Sister Act
by dncnmndy
Summary: Emily's sister is in trouble and the team comes together to help her. As they investigate, the Unsub's sinister motives are revealed. Can the team protect Emily's sister, or will she be the Unsub's next victim? And how exactly does Emily fit in?
1. Chapter 1

New story, unrelated to my previous Criminal Minds fic. Please read and review, I love suggestions and criticism. Enjoy!

Disclaimer: I do not own Criminal Minds or any of its characters.

**SISTER ACT**

* * *

"Please, stop. Just stop." Jackson Thomas pleaded with the figure standing above him. Those few words earned him another few seconds of relentless punches and kicks aimed primarily at his face. He tried to turn his body to avoid the blows, but his attacker seemed to be everywhere. He couldn't even use his hands to shield himself; they were cuffed tightly behind his back, as they had been since he'd woken up in this room thirteen hours before. In those thirteen hours his attacker had beaten him unconscious twice using various methods, including what Jackson thought to be a taser, judging by the way his body was shaking after he woke up.

But in between the beatings, his attacker asked him about his brother, Robert. His attacker was interested in their relationship; how they got along, what annoyed him, what made him angry. Jackson didn't understand the reasoning behind the questions, he was just happy for the break from the physical pain. Now however, his attacker seemed to be more focused on the pain rather than Jackson's past.

After a few more well-aimed punches, the attacker relented for a second, peering down at his hostage with a look of borderline amusement.

"You can stop this anytime you want, Jackson."

Jackson grimaced, his attacker had been saying this every few hours, asking the same question: "Do you want me to call your brother?"

Now, as his attacker said it again, Jackson mulled it over. He'd said no all the other times, not wanting to get Robert involved in this. His attacker regarded him for a moment, and then spoke again.

"I asked you if you wanted me to call your brother. One call to him, and this can all be over, Jackson. Robert can come get you, and this will all be over." Not getting a response from Jackson, the attacker spoke again. "Come on Jackson, all it takes is one phone call. One phone call and this will all be over."

Finally, Jackson spoke, his voice hoarse and shaky. "Yes. I want my brother to come get me."

His attacker smiled; this really was much too easy. The attacker retrieved Jackson's phone from where it had been placed earlier and pressed number 1 on the speed dial. Putting the phone on speaker, the attacker set it back down. After only three rings, the attacker and Jackson heard Robert's panic filled voice.

"Jackson? Jackson, are you okay?"

His attacker prompted him. "Go ahead. Ask him to come get you. Tell him you need him."

Jackson did so. "Robert, I need you to come get me."

"Jackson, where are you? Where do I go?"

The attacker spoke again and gave an address. "Look forward to meeting you." The attacker finished the conversation and hung up the phone.

Jackson spoke, pleading. "Please, don't hurt Robert. He didn't do anything." Jackson was so focused on his pleading that he didn't realize that his attacker had pulled out the baseball bat Jackson had been beaten with earlier. Jackson didn't even realize what was going on until after he'd been hit in the head. And then Jackson knew. He knew he was going to die, and he knew that he'd brought his brother down with him.

* * *

By 5:00 the next morning, Anna had already showered, gotten dressed, and was now sipping her first cup of coffee. Flipping through the mail, she came across a blank envelope with absolutely nothing written on it. Her hand started shaking immediately; she knew what was inside. Setting her coffee down gently, she gently tore open the envelope. It held two pictures, both of men. One appeared to have been badly beaten, and the other had been shot several times in the upper torso; it was just like the other ones. And, like the others, there was also a note. She didn't need to even look at it to know what it said.

**Your time is coming.**

It was typed in basic black font, and Anna already knew that the police wouldn't be able to get any prints off of it. They hadn't gotten any prints off of any of the letters. Each of the twelve envelopes she'd received had been clean for both prints and saliva. Anna was sick of hearing that the police couldn't help her. So, she decided it was time to use her last resort. Knowing that even at this hour she would already be awake, Anna dialed the familiar number, feeling an unnerving sense of relief when she heard the voice on the other end of the line pick up.

"Prentiss."

"Emily? It's me. I need your help."

* * *

"Yeah, I got it. I'll present it to the team now. Yes. See you soon." JJ hung up the phone and leaned back in her chair thinking about the phone call she'd just received. It was safe to say that it was one of the last conversations she'd ever expected to have. Standing, she grabbed the pad of paper she'd written on during the phone call and stepped out of her office. Catching Morgan's eye, she tilted her head toward the conference room and began to walk that way herself, knocking on the doors of Hotch and Rossi's respective offices along the way. Less than three minutes later, everyone was settled around the wooden table, including Garcia, who'd been summoned by a hastily sent text from JJ's phone.

"Where's Emily?" Morgan asked, voicing the question on almost everyone's mind.

Hotch answered. "She asked for a few days off." This immediately sparked interest, Emily Prentiss never took days off unless she was forced to by the department. These questions were temporarily put aside, however, as JJ began the debriefing.

"I just got a call about a series of double homicides. The victims vary in age, race, and gender. The pairings of the victims are varied as well; there have been pairs of males, pairs of females, and pairings involving a male and a female." JJ paused and Rossi spoke.

"Is there any connection between the victims?"

"Well, not between the various pairings, but each set of victims are siblings." She listed of multiple sets of names, ending with Jackson and Robert Thomas. As she spoke, pictures popped up on the screen behind her; the same pictures that had been sent to Anna Prentiss, though the team didn't know that.

"Twelve sets of victims?" Reid spoke now. "Why weren't we called in sooner?"

"Because," JJ answered, "the victims have been scattered throughout different cities all across the country."

"Okay, so, who called us in?" Morgan asked.

"Well, it's more of a personal favor; there hasn't actually been an official request, but I'm working on it." JJ was hedging now, and in a room full of profilers, it showed.

"JJ, what's going on?" Hotch asked. It wasn't like her to not follow procedure.

"The killer has been making contact after each set of killings. He's targeting one woman in particular." JJ hesitated for only a moment before clicking a button on the remote she held. Another picture popped up on the screen, this one of a beautiful, smiling woman who appeared to be in her late twenties. That however, is not the first thing the team noticed. What they noticed first was this woman's uncanny resemblance to their very own Emily Prentiss.

Hotch spoke again. "JJ, what is going on?"

JJ talked, faster now, trying to get all the information out in the right order. "This is Anna Prentiss, Emily's younger sister. Every week for the last three months, she's received an unmarked envelope with pictures of each of the victims and a note telling her that her time is coming. The locals couldn't get any prints or saliva off of any of the envelopes, and they're so backlogged that facial recognition took awhile. They thought it was a hoax until the fourth victim, but between a lack of cooperation between departments and backups in the labs, they haven't been very on top of things." JJ paused before continuing. "That's where Emily is. Her sister called her yesterday morning and asked her for help. Emily called me when she realized the extent of what she was dealing with. She wants us to come too."

"Where does her sister live?" Reid asked.

"About an hour and a half from here." JJ answered. "I spoke to the chief of detectives, and he said he would be willing to accept our help." She waited for a response.

Hotch and Rossi's eyes met, and Rossi nodded very slightly. Hotch then spoke to the rest of the team. "We'll leave in ten minutes. Meet in the garage."

The team stood without another word, gathering their files, mulling over the fact that Emily had a sister she never told them about.


	2. Chapter 2

Hey everyone! So, I didn't get a very enthusiastic response to the first chapter of the story. Thanks to those who did review, I really appreciate it! And to those who didn't, that's fine too, but please, even if you hate the story, let me know. Anyway, this chapter is a bit slow, but things will pick up soon, I promise! Thanks for reading, let me know what you think!

* * *

They split into two SUVs, Hotch driving one with Rossi and JJ riding with him, while Morgan drove the other with Reid and Garcia, who had come along at Hotch's insistence.

"Why is it that whenever I come along with you guys, we drive? Why can't we take that big ol' jet? At least I can stretch my legs in that thing." Garcia groused.

"Garcia, it was your choice to bring along all that stuff." Reid reminded her. Indeed, Garcia was squashed in the backseat of the SUV with multiple laptop cases surrounding her.

"This isn't just stuff, junior G-man, these are my babies. And once I get them out of this car, they'll tell me everything I want to know."

Morgan chuckled and Garcia smiled. She knew she could act over the top, but it really made her feel good when she could make Morgan, or any of the team for that matter, laugh. She liked to think that she helped them get through their days, as gruesome as they often were. She had no idea if it worked or not, so she just figured she'd rather be safe than sorry. Her thinking was interrupted by Hotch's voice coming out of the speakerphone mounted on the dashboard. Garcia had forgotten that the people in the other SUV could hear what she'd been saying.

"Garcia, did you get a chance to find any information about the victims?"

"Sir, I don't have access to the databases while we're in the car. But as soon as we get to wherever we're going, I'll get right on that. Where are we going, anyway?"

JJ spoke up. "We're almost there, its right outside the city."

"I didn't even know Emily had a sister." Garcia mused, unconsciously stirring the thoughts everyone had been trying to avoid.

Hotch came to her defense. "You know Prentiss, she's a private person." Hotch saw Rossi's eyes flicker to him when he said that but thankfully, Rossi didn't push the matter.

Reid, however, didn't pick up on that silent exchange. "Did you know she had a sister?"

Hotch cleared his throat. "I knew she had a sister, but I don't know anything more than that." Everyone in both cars accepted this answer, though they each continued their own speculations about this mystery sibling.

When they finally pulled up to Anna Prentiss' home, Reid couldn't resist a small "Wow." Garcia was, of course, more vocal about it.

"I could fit, like, my entire apartment in this place. Twelve times over. And have room left for a hot tub. And maybe a bowling alley. Or a smoothie bar."

Anna's house was huge. From the outside, Hotch had to guess that it was at least three stories, and it seemed to stretch down the street forever. It was well maintained, of course, the lawn clipped and the flowers colorful and blooming. There seemed to be a small parking lot off to the side which held various cars. The cars too were well maintained and clean, but they weren't exactly flashy. But still.

Morgan couldn't help but judge. He knew Emily came from money, with her mother being an ambassador. And he vaguely remembered a comment made about a large inheritance from a grandfather. But Emily didn't flaunt her money like this. Growing up in Chicago, Morgan had lived in a modest house in a bad neighborhood. He had no use for extremely wealthy people who deemed it necessary to flaunt their good fortune for no apparent reason. Still, he tried to reason with himself. This woman was in trouble, and it was his job to protect her and find this Unsub before he hurt anyone else. Even so, he couldn't resist at least one snide comment. Turning to Reid, he muttered, "Ever had caviar man? Because I got a feeling you're about to get your first taste of it."

Unfortunately for Morgan, Hotch heard him, and shot him a sharp glare that made Morgan straighten up and grab his go-bag, following the other agents to the front door.

A tired looking young woman answered the door. "Yes? Can I help you?" Morgan presumed it was a maid. A place like this had to have a maid. Or several.

Hotch, however, was ever professional, offering his badge. "Ma'am, I'm looking for either Anna or Emily Prentiss. I'm Agent Hotchner with the FBI."

The woman looked confused. "Is Miss Anna in trouble?" she asked.

Morgan and Reid shared a look. Miss Anna? Really?

Hotch spoke again. "Ma'am, we got a call from her sister Emily earlier, asking us to come down here. May we come in?"

Finally, the woman nodded and stepped aside to let them in. Stepping through the front door was like stepping into another world. The maid asked them to stay while she went to find either Anna or Emily. This gave the team ample time to look around the front entryway which was open and inviting. There was a large staircase in front of them, and as he looked up, Rossi noted that it seemed to spiral up not only to the second floor, but to continue to the third. A quick glance around the hall assured him that there was also a basement. Rossi was startled when he heard what sounded like a child's voice coming from the left of him. Just as he was beginning to believe he'd imagined it, he heard another child's voice and another. They were screaming and laughing. Peering into the room, he was amused to find that it was filled with toys, and that children of various ages and races were scattered throughout. He sensed JJ walk up behind him and look too. It seemed as though an argument was breaking out among some of the children.

"TAG, YOU'RE IT!" one shouted.

"NUG-UH! YOU DIDN'T GET ME!"

"DID TO!"

All of the sudden, several children ran out of the room past Rossi and JJ and past the rest of the team, including Reid who was so startled, he jumped. Morgan laughed, though he was confused. Why were there so many kids running around this place? To add to his confusion, two young black women walked up the stairs from the basement carrying laundry baskets. They were chatting with each other, and didn't seem to pay much attention to the team as they continued up the stairs to the second floor. More maids? Maybe the kids were the maids' kids? Morgan didn't even know what to think anymore.

After what seemed like forever, Emily finally came down the stairs, wearing jeans and a button down shirt. She looked tired, but she also looked happy to see them. And, if Hotch wasn't mistaken, there was a slightly sheepish look to her face. He figured she was regretting the semi-awkwardness of the situation. Here she was, introducing her friends and colleagues to the sister she never told them about. And, by the way, said sister is being targeted by a serial killer. Just your everyday, run of the mill awkward encounters.

"Hi." Emily said. The team greeted her back, and she was grateful when Hotch spoke up.

"Prentiss, can I speak to you for a moment?" She nodded, and they walked to a far corner of the room.

"Emily, what's going on?" Emily was very aware that he only called her Emily when they were alone. Still, she tried to act normal.

"I didn't know who else to call, Hotch, she called me and asked for my help. Anna never asks for help, so I knew it was serious."

Hotch nodded. "You do realize that if we take this case, that means profiling not only the Unsub but the victims as well. We're going to have to dig, Emily. We have to treat this like any other case. That means your sister's past, and maybe your past as well."

Emily nodded. She and Anna had talked about this a lot; Anna knew that Emily hadn't told her team much about her life. Emily had assured her that she was ready to do so, and that Anna should disclose everything completely and truthfully, no matter how it may be construed.

"I know, Hotch. I'm ready for it, and so is my sister."

"Alright then. We need to talk to her."

"She's in her office, she knows you're here."

Emily led Hotch and the rest of the team up the stairs. The second floor was really nothing more than a long hallway with several doors on either side. They continued up to the third floor, and Morgan's distaste for Anna Prentiss' ostentatious house grew.

Finally, they stopped climbing. The third floor too was a long hallway, but there were fewer doors. Several of them had nameplates on the outside, but since Anna's office was the first on the right, Morgan didn't have time to read all of them.

Emily knocked once, and then opened the door. The young woman sitting at the desk looked up from her paperwork. Hotch was once again taken aback by her resemblance to Emily. They had the same pale complexion and dark hair. Anna's however, was curly and cascaded past her shoulder blades while Emily's was short and straight. Anna was thin like Emily, but seemed more solid, somehow. Not big, but definitely muscular. Like her sister, she was wearing dark jeans and a black button down shirt. Both, however, were extraordinarily beautiful.

Anna stood as Emily began the introductions.

"Anna, this is Agent Hotchner, Agent Rossi, Agent Morgan, Dr. Reid, Agent Jareau, and Penelope Garcia." With each name, Anna shook a hand. Rossi noted that her handshake was firm, but not overbearing.

"It's nice to meet you all. Emily's told me a lot about you."

Emily half-moaned. "Anna." She said warningly, knowing that now her team was wondering just how much this woman knew about them.

"What?" Anna asked innocently. "Em, would you rather me have said, 'Hi, Emily hasn't told me a thing about you.'? Do you really think that would have made them feel less awkward? Because you can't tell me that this isn't weird right now."

Garcia actually laughed, and remarkably, the team visibly relaxed. Shoulders lowered and relaxed, breaths released, Morgan's scowl was slightly less pronounced than it had been a few moments before.

She smiled again, and Reid found it odd that she seemed so at ease. Normally, victims were anxious or tense; he didn't get that feel from Emily's sister. It was actually refreshing.

Rossi spoke up. "Is there some place we can talk?"

"And I need to set up my babies." Garcia added, patting one of the bags she held while shooting a glance at Hotch, knowing he wanted her to get right to work.

"Of course. There's a conference room at the end of the hall that should be big enough."

She stepped out from behind her desk and motioned for them to follow her out of the office. It surprised them all when they realized she was walking with a limp. It wasn't terribly pronounced, but it sparked curiosity nonetheless.

Opening a door at the end of the hall, Anna motioned them inside and Garcia immediately began unpacking her equipment. The team was surprised to find that there were already several bulletin boards and a few dry erase boards in the room.

Noticing his questioning glance, Anna spoke. "Emily mentioned that these might be useful."

Hotch nodded his approval and the team began settling into chairs around the big table. Emily sat to Anna's right and stole a glance at her sister. Seeing no apparent discomfort, she leaned back in her chair.

Anna, however, leaned forward. "So, what do you want to know?"


	3. Chapter 3

So, I'm not really sure I'm happy with how this chapter turned out, please let me know what you think!

* * *

"You look really familiar." Before anyone else could say anything, Garcia spoke up. "Have we met before?"

"I don't think so." Anna answered.

"Are you sure? You just look really, really familiar." Garcia persisted, ignoring the look she was getting from Hotch.

Anna laughed and turned her head toward her sister. "Could it be the fact that Emily and I look very similar?"

Garcia shook her head. "It's something more than that, I don't know."

"Garcia." Hotch spoke before she could continue. "Please."

Garcia nodded, unabashed. "Sorry."

Hotch focused his attention back on Anna.

"We know basically what's been going on, but can you give us your take?"

Anna nodded. "Every week for the past few months, I wake up and find that an envelope has been slipped under the door. There are always a few pictures of the victims, after they've been killed. And there's a note, usually it says 'You're time is coming.'"

"Usually?" Hotch clarified.

"Well, the first one I got said 'This is your fault.'"

Hotch pressed on. "Did you know any of the victims?"

"No, I didn't recognize any of them."

"Can you think of anyone who would be targeting you?"

"No, trust me, I've tried. But no one comes to mind."

Hotch nodded. "The victims were all taken from their homes in the middle of the night. What kind of security do you have around here?"

"There's an alarm system, but that's it."

"Okay. We're going to want to get a team to sweep this place for bugs. This Unsub most likely stalks his victims before he takes them. We want to make sure he's not listening."

Anna nodded her assent. "That's fine. Whatever you need to do."

Rossi spoke up. "We also need to limit the number of possible accidental; victims."

"How do you do that?"

"How many people live here?"

"Well, it varies, but anywhere from twenty to thirty full time; and there's a few people who only come in during the day."

"They're going to need to find some other place to live until we catch this Unsub. Anyone who lives here is a potential victim."

"Okay. I'll make other arrangements; it may take a day or two though."

Morgan couldn't help himself. "I'm sure they'll appreciate a few days off."

Anna looked confused. "Sorry?"

"Your staff. I'm sure they'll appreciate a few days off."

"My staff?"

Morgan was looking at Anna like she was dumb. "The people downstairs. Your staff. The people doing your laundry."

"Agent Morgan, you're mistaken. I have a staff of four that comes in on a daily basis. The people downstairs are my clients; they live here. But they don't work here."

Now even Rossi was confused. "Then who are they?"

Anna stole a glance at Emily, who shrugged. "Wow, Em. You really didn't tell them anything, did you?" Anna smiled and shook her head nonetheless.

"Agents, this is a shelter, a homeless shelter. Albeit, an unconventional one. You see, we take in families for up to a year. During that time, we get them back on their feet. We help them find jobs, cars, houses, teach them to manage money, to cook, to clean, all the practical living skills they need. And their children get settled back into school. Eventually, they move out and, if we've been successful, they can then live on their own without further issues. The people downstairs were doing their own laundry, and I would imagine that others were cooking. That's why it's going to take me a few days to get everyone out of here, some of my clients don't have permanent housing yet; and I need to speak to them and figure out what the best course of action is."

She looked directly at Morgan, who promptly looked down at his feet for a moment before meeting her eye. "I don't know what to say."

"Don't worry about it. You're not the first one who's walked here and misjudged this place before thinking to ask what it was all about." She countered.

Before anyone could say anything else, Garcia gasped and every head turned toward her. Anna shot Emily a look of confusion, but before Garcia could clarify, a young woman ran into the room.

"Miss Anna, Lisa's here. She asked me to come get you."

"Thanks Marie. Tell her I'll be right there." She turned back to the team. "Can you excuse me for a few minutes?"

"Of course." Hotch answered.

Anna stood and left, and Emily took advantage of her absence.

"What the hell was that?" She pelted her pen at Morgan and it hit him square in the forehead.

"Ow! I'm sorry, I just misread the situation. I know I wasn't being fair."

"I figured as much. I saw you're face downstairs."

"Okay boys and girls. Can we please focus on something else for a second?" Garcia turned to Emily. "Why didn't you tell me?"

"Tell you what?" Emily was honestly confused.

"That your sister is **the** Anna Prentiss, the gymnast. The world class gymnast." Garcia accused. JJ raised her head in interest.

All heads turned to Emily. "Well, she's not a gymnast anymore. I didn't think it was a big deal."

"Not a big deal? Emily, you're sister was favored to win the gold medal in the 2000 Olympics, I think that's a pretty big deal."

"Well, it just never came up. I figured I would let her tell you."

Anna spoke from the doorway. "Let me tell them what?"

"Can I take a picture with you?" Garcia blurted out before thinking, causing Hotch to shoot her yet another of his looks.

Anna laughed. "I wondered how long it would be before this came up." She limped back into the room and settled into her chair once again.

"So you really were an Olympic gymnast?" Reid asked. Not that he was a gymnastics fanatic, but he had been known to watch a meet every now and then. Gymnastics was an interesting display of physics.

Anna shook her head. "No, I never went to the Olympics."

Emily jumped in, knowing that her sister was trying to downplay her career, and also knowing that some of this information was crucial. "But you made the national team."

"Barely. I filled the last spot. Half a point ahead of the girl who didn't get it."

"Anna, you broke your ankle on the first rotation!" Emily exclaimed, sounding exasperated.

"How did you make the team if you didn't compete?" JJ asked now.

Before Anna could answer, Emily spoke again. "Who said she didn't compete?"

"Emily, you just said that she broke her ankle."

"I didn't say she didn't compete."

They were interrupted by the sound of applause coming from one of Garcia's many laptops. "Sorry. I forgot to turn the volume down."

"What are you watching?" Hotch asked.

"I thought it would be helpful to see Anna's performance in the national competition, you know, to clear up any confusion about what happened."

"It's really not important, you know." Anna tried to discourage her, but Garcia was undeterred, and was now hooking various cables from her laptop to the TV at the front of the room. "Alright, fine. If you really want to." Anna leaned back in her chair, as did Emily, who had seen the footage hundreds of times.

On the television screen, there was a younger Anna; Morgan knew that she was twenty eight now, which would have made her sixteen in 1998, during the national competition. The team watched in silence as she mounted the beam and seemed to execute a perfect routine. On one of her last flips, however, her foot seemed to twist as she landed, and she fell. When she didn't get up, a man who Morgan presumed was the coach went to her and helped her stand. She hobbled off the floor to thunderous applause as the announcers lamented the fact that a favored gold medalist had just ended her career with one bad landing.

Morgan followed Anna's path from the beam to the bench, where she was having a heated argument with her coach. A younger Emily then appeared, and sat beside her sister. Anna and Emily spoke for a moment, and then Emily said something to the coach, who nodded. The BAU team watched as Anna's ankle was wrapped and iced, and watched some more as she participated in the rest of the competition. It was obvious that Anna's ankle was paining her but even so; she appeared to execute flawless routines. JJ and Garcia both winced throughout the video, especially during her floor routine when she was solidly landing on her feet over and over. Finally, they reached the end of the tape and watched as name after name of the new National Team members was called. Anna's was the last, true to her word, she had edged out her opponent by one half of a point, and she used crutches when she accepted her place in the lineup. The video ended there, and all eyes shifted back to Anna, who appeared to be completely at ease. Nothing seemed to faze her.

"Well, now that we've gotten that part of my life cleared up, what's next?" she asked.

"Hang on." Morgan interrupted. "You made the team, why didn't you go to the Olympics?"

"I got hit by a car a few weeks before the Olympics." Anna answered nonchalantly. "Even I couldn't compete with a broken femur and a shattered hip."

Even Hotch vaguely remembered the headlines: **Olympic gymnast in tragic accident, forced to retire**.

He couldn't resist speaking up. "You say that like it's no big deal."

Anna shrugged. "You know, the way I look at it, my career had to end sometime. Yeah, I could have focused on the fact that I never got my gold medal, and I did for awhile. But it depressed me. So, I focused on other things. And I don't regret anything." When she said these last words, she looked at Emily. "I don't regret anything at all."


	4. Chapter 4

Thanks to all who have been reading, I hope you're enjoying the story. As always, please review and let me know what you think!

* * *

They talked for a few hours more. Hotch pressed Anna on the smallest details of the letters and pictures she'd gotten. He asked over and over if she recognized any of the victims. She didn't. He asked again. The answer was still no. Anna appeared forthcoming in her answers, and didn't hold anything back, even when Hotch dug more into her past. How she'd started the shelter. Her life before her career. Her life now. Surprisingly, it wasn't Anna who looked uncomfortable, it was Emily. Hotch knew he was going to need to talk to her later. They needed to know everything.

They were interrupted around seven in the evening by blaring rap music. It wasn't coming from downstairs though, it was coming from outside. Morgan went to the window and saw two cars cruising past the house. Their windows were down, and the cars were the source of the music. He willed them to keep driving, groaning inwardly when the settled to a stop across the street from Anna's house. These crimes didn't profile as gang related, but nothing was impossible. The gang bangers exited their cars and began to saunter toward the front door. Morgan stepped away from the window.

"What's wrong?" Rossi asked, seeing the look on his colleague's face.

"Trouble." Morgan had grown up in Chicago; he wasn't any stranger to gangs. He'd seen his fair share of fights, fought in a good number of them too. Before he could say anything else, the doorbell rang. Hand on his holster; he left the room, his team in tow, Garcia following. Emily and Anna were the last to leave, and Anna didn't look happy.

"Agent Morgan! Wait!" When he didn't listen, she walked faster. Before she had descended the last staircase, she heard his voice.

"Look guys, we don't want any trouble." Morgan was saying to the group of young men gathered around the door.

"Neither do we." One of them answered.

"Then just turn around, and go back the way you came." Morgan insisted in an icy voice.

"We told you, we're not leaving until we see Miss Anna."

"Well, she's not available right now."

Anna had finally made it almost all the way down the stairs. Her path was blocked by Hotch, Rossi, Reid, and JJ, who were all standing on the stairs. All of them seemed ready to draw their guns. Morgan's hand was still on his holster.

Anna pushed her way past the group on the stairs and made her way to the front door. Stepping in front of Morgan, who started to protest, she said "I'll handle this." With that, she placed her palm against his chest and gently pushed him backwards. There was a smile on her face when she turned back to the door.

"Hey Roger, how are you?"

The man Morgan had been speaking to, apparently his name was Roger, leaned down and kissed Anna on the cheek, presenting her with a bouquet of flowers he'd been holding behind his back. Morgan had mistaken these for a gun.

"I'm fine, Miss Anna. The question is, how are you? Rumor is that some psycho's after you."

"You don't miss a thing Roger. But my sister and her team are here now, so there's nothing to worry about. They're with the FBI."

"Ah. That accounts for the welcoming party." He said, indicating not only Morgan, but the rest of the team on the stairs. At this point, they all had a mixture of confusion and intrigue on their faces. Morgan still looked pissed.

"They didn't mean any harm, Roger." Anna soothed.

"I know." He looked past her, to Morgan. "No hard feelings man." Roger offered his hand, and after a moment, Morgan took it.

Anna smiled. "Well, I'm guessing dinner's almost ready, why don't you guys go help in the kitchen?" she suggested. "And find a vase for those flowers. They're beautiful."

"Yes ma'am." Roger agreed. He stepped into the house, and the others followed him. Now that they weren't all grouped together, the team could see that they varied in age from early teens to early twenties. As each boy stepped into the house, Anna directed them. One of the washing machines is acting up, she explained. Could Johnny and Liam please go see what they could do? And for the younger boys, the kids are in the playroom. Would they please go play with them for a few minutes? She never had to ask twice. They went where they were told, no questions or complaints.

Emily watched her sister in action and smiled. She'd always been able to connect with even the most difficult of people. The rest of the team had relaxed, except for Morgan, who looked even more pissed than he had before. Unable to contain himself, he hissed to Anna.

"What the hell are you doing?"

"Excuse me?"

"You have children here, and you're letting bangers go play with them? And cook their food? Are you crazy?"

"Agent Morgan, these boys have been coming here almost every night for the past two years. They know that when they step into this house, they must be unarmed, and they are not to talk to the children about gang business. Nor are they allowed to talk about it at all. But to honest with you, most of them have given up the gang life. Many of them are back in school. I encourage them to come here to keep them off the streets. We go over their test scores, their future plans. If I need work done around the house, they do it. In return, they get dinner, and something to do for a few hours. There's a lounge in the basement for them to hang out in. We go over their test scores every week, and look for jobs. Most of them now know how to balance a checkbook and make a budget. The kids only come here if they're ready to turn their lives around. And once they make that decision, I don't see any reason to not give them a chance to do it." She was glaring now.

Morgan, not ready to admit that he had misjudged the situation, tried a different approach. "You realize that until we catch this Unsub, they have to stop coming, right? If they're here and he shows up, they could get hurt."

Anna nodded. "I'm going to talk to them tonight. I'll take care of it."

"Well, good." Not having anything else to say, turned and walked up the stairs.

Anna spoke to the rest of the team. "Do you need me right now?"

"No. We'll let you know if we do." Rossi assured her.

"Okay. Well, make yourselves at home. Emily mentioned that you usually stay at a hotel, but there are plenty of bedrooms upstairs if you would rather stay here. Whatever is more convenient for you." With a last smile, she headed toward the basement.

Hotch and Rossi conferred for a moment, and it was decided that it would indeed be easier to stay here instead of at a hotel. Plus, the added protection wouldn't hurt. Hotch led his team back upstairs and gave them ten minutes to settle in before they needed to be back in the conference room. Everyone headed back upstairs to the third floor. Even with the rooms that were labeled as offices, there would be more than enough bedrooms for all of them. Emily had already settled into a room next door to Anna's, and Hotch took the one next to hers with Rossi on the end. Morgan was across the hall from Anna's, with Reid next to him, JJ next, and Garcia on the end. Hotch, who didn't bother to unpack his things no matter where they were staying, took advantage of his time to take a look in Anna's room. He'd cleared it with her earlier. It was simply decorated and had the same furniture as his bedroom. He guessed that she'd ordered it in bulk. There were pictures hanging on the wall; tons of them: Anna with various people, he figured they were people that had been in the shelter at one point in their lives. On another wall, there were pictures of Anna with her coach, Anna with the national team, Anna with the other girls she trained with. The third wall was the one Hotch found most interesting; pictures of Anna and Emily. There were pictures of a child Emily holding a baby Anna, pictures of them at birthday parties, and on Christmas. They always looked happy. One picture in particular caught his eye; Anna's lips were planted on Emily's cheek, and Emily was laughing. Hotch had never seen Emily Prentiss look so happy; the smile on her face was one of pure joy.

"That was her twenty first birthday." Hotch turned and saw Emily standing in the doorway. We went dancing."

"You guys have a good relationship." It wasn't a question, but more of an observation.

"The best. She's the best." Emily said softly. "Even though she's younger, it never seemed like that to me. She knew me better than I knew myself. She probably still does." Emily mused, thinking about the conversation they'd had just last night.

_"So, what's up with you and your boss?"_

_"What? Anna, you haven't even met him."_

_"Yeah. Emily, I thought we told each other everything."_

_"We do." Emily insisted._

_"Then admit it." _

_"Admit what?"_

_"That you love him."_

_When Emily didn't answer, Anna knew the truth. She spoke more softly now. "Emily, every time we talk, he's the last person on the team you mention. And you talk about him the least. You're trying to hide it from me, you silly girl. I see all, and I know all." Anna laughed. "So just admit it already. That way, we can figure out what you're going to do about it."_

"Prentiss? Prentiss, are you alright?" Hotch pulled her out of her memory.

"Sorry, yeah, I'm good."

Hotch regarded her for another moment. "Well, we need to get to the conference room." He placed a hand gently on the small of her back and led her out of the room. Emily forced herself to act normal, still noting that he removed his hand as they approached the rest of the team. They settled in around the table once again. They had an Unsub to profile.


	5. Chapter 5

Here's the next chapter. Thanks to all who have been reading! Please let me know what you think!

* * *

"Okay. What do we know?" Rossi started the discussion.

"The locals sent over their records. They're happy to have our help." JJ said, passing out files. The team took a moment to look through them.

"So, the Unsub is targeting sets of siblings. It looks like he takes one first; one of the siblings is always reported missing. Both are eventually found dead, always in a public site, always together." Reid summarized.

"Here's something interesting; the victims who were reported missing had been severely beaten, cause of death was blunt force trauma to the head. The other siblings were shot, no other physical trauma. So why does this Unsub target one of the siblings more than the other?" Rossi asked.

"Here's something else," Reid continued, having read the report faster than anyone else, "the sibling who had been abducted always placed a phone call to the other sibling. According to the coroner, these calls were placed right before the victims were killed."

"So, he lets them call to say goodbye?" JJ asked.

"Maybe." Hotch said. "What else?"

"Well, the Unsub is most likely male, late twenties or early thirties." Morgan picked up. "He's got to be physically fit; he was able to control his victims without drugging them; the tox screens were clean on all of them."

"There's no sexual component to these crimes. No rape or sexual assault of any kind. And there doesn't seem to be a type; the victims are male, female, old, young. So he's not a preferential killer." Reid added.

"So what drives this guy?" Rossi pushed. "What makes him tick? Why does he pick the victims he does?"

"We know he stalks them, these aren't crimes of opportunity. If they were, the Unsub would have no way of knowing which victims had siblings." Morgan posited.

"How was the relationship between the siblings? Was there rivalry, were they close?" Hotch directed at JJ.

She shook her head. "According to the family interviews, none of the siblings had any serious falling outs. Some were closer than others, according to the families, but there weren't any major problems between any of them."

"Are there any patterns as to which sibling he takes?" Rossi asked. "Is it always the older or always the younger?"

"It varies." Hotch shook his head. "It's like there's no pattern at all. Garcia, have you found any connection between the victims?"

"No, sir. As far as I can tell, the victims were from different cities, and I can't find anything in their credit card receipts to suggest that any of them have ever met." Garcia explained.

"So we have no pattern, no motive, and no suspects." Morgan lamented.

The team was silent for just a moment, before Hotch spoke.

"Prentiss, do you have any thoughts?" Emily was jerked out of her reverie.

"Uh, no. Sorry." She shook her head.

"Prentiss, we need your contribution. For some reason, this Unsub is targeting your sister. This means he's also targeting you. I need you to be forthcoming with us. We heard Anna's side of the story, we need to hear yours."

Emily sighed. "What do you want to know?" Hotch saw her discomfort, and it bothered him. He wanted so much to be able to assuage her fears. But he knew he couldn't. Instead, he interrogated her.

"How is your relationship with your sister?"

Emily smiled faintly. "Great. It's always been great. She's younger than me, obviously. But she's always been so focused, so mature. We did everything together; we were inseparable. She started gymnastics when she was five, I was nine. I did it for awhile too, but I didn't enjoy it as much as she did. She stuck with it; I didn't." She stopped.

"What?" Hotch asked softly.

"I remember when I told her I was quitting. She was seven. And even at seven, she was so understanding. She actually tried to comfort me. Nothing ever bothered Anna. I think she knew I felt bad. She's always been good at reading people. She knew our parents were going to split months before it actually happened." Emily stopped again.

"What happened after they split?" Hotch pressed.

"My mother was assigned to go to Europe. I was fourteen, Anna was ten. I assumed we were both going to go with our mother; that was my plan anyway."

"Anna didn't want to go?"

"She knew that going to Europe would end her gymnastics career. We talked about it. A lot. I tried to convince her to come with us, but she was stubborn. So I told her that I would stay too. And she told me not to. She told me to go to Europe, that it was the best place for me. So I went. And she stayed."

"That would have been hard." Hotch led her.

"It was. Then, the next year…"

Rossi shifted, he knew what was coming.

"The next year, I got pregnant. In Europe. My mother never knew. I called Anna when I found out; her phone went to voicemail; she was at the gym. I told her to call me, that it was urgent. But this wasn't the kind of thing you tell someone on a voicemail. I kept waiting for her to call me back, and she didn't. Two days later, Anna shows up in Europe. She was only eleven. And she held one hand and Matthew held the other while I…I took care of the situation." Emily choked up slightly, and Hotch wanted more than anything to reach out and hold her. He restrained himself, and Emily continued.

"Mother was furious that Anna had come all the way to Europe; they didn't get along well. Anna always hated politics; we both did. And Mother couldn't get over the fact that neither of her daughters wanted to follow in her footsteps. Anna stayed though, for almost a week."

"How did your father feel about that?" Hotch asked.

"He didn't even notice that she was gone. He was too busy being hung-over." Emily's voice was bitter.

"You're father was an alcoholic?" Hotch was legitimately surprised. Emily never talked about her father.

"Yes. That's part of the reason Mother left him. And the main reason I didn't want Anna to live with him. He was a mean drunk."

"Did he ever hit you?" Hotch asked.

Emily sighed. "A few times."

"Did he hit Anna?"

Emily nodded. "She could usually talk him down though. She didn't like him, but she could get through to him. She reads people well. She knew how to calm him down, usually."

"How often did you and Anna talk while you were in Europe?"

"Every night. Hours on end, sometimes. We never ran out of things to talk about."

"Did anything else major happen during those years?"

Emily shook her head. "No, not until the national competition."

"You came back."

"I was in college by then, so I was living back in the states."

"But Anna still lived with your father?"

"Yes. I tried to get her to move in with me, but she insisted on staying with him. She didn't like him, but she worried about him. I lived about a twenty miles away at the time. Anna would run to my place once or twice a week to train. She could run for hours without getting tired."

"What did you say to the coach during the competition?" Hotch remembered the tape footage.

"Anna told me that she could still compete. I told him that he should listen. He listened."

"So Anna made the national team. When was the accident?" Hotch asked, referring to the car accident Anna had mentioned earlier.

Emily took a deep breath. "Two years later. A few weeks before the Olympics." Emily seemed reluctant to continue.

"What happened?" Hotch asked. He knew he was probing, and he wanted so much to stop. But they needed this information.

"Anna and my father got into a fight. He was more drunk than usual and she couldn't get him to calm down. He backhanded her, almost shattered her cheekbone. So she left."

"Where did she go?"

"She was only a few miles from my house when she got hit by that car. It wasn't even dark out yet; and the weather was great. Running always took her mind off things. Next thing I know, I get a call from the hospital. I rushed over there; she was stable. But her femur was broken, and her hip was in several pieces. She was going to have to have reconstructive surgery. We both knew, when the doctor told us that, her career was over." Emily was still holding something back; Hotch could tell.

"Emily, what's the rest of the story?"

"It was my fault, Hotch. I never should have let her stay with that man. I should have stayed with her instead of going to Europe. And then I should have made her move in with me. None of this would have happened if I had been responsible. She's my little sister; I should have been looking out for her." Emily's voice broke off. Her head sank to her hands. She was vaguely aware of the silence in the room that surrounded her. Then she was ultra-aware of an arm encircling her shoulders. She leaned her head into Hotch's chest, not caring who saw.

"Emily." She jerked her head up when she heard Anna's voice coming from the doorway. "That's not the whole story." Anna stared her down, but it wasn't a look of anger or blame. It was one of hurt. She limped into the room, accentuating the consequences of the story they had all just heard. She sat on Emily's other side. "It is not your fault, Em." She spoke softly; the team had to strain to hear her. "It was his. All his. I don't know how else to tell you that."

Rossi asked the final question, one he didn't want to ask, but one he had to. "What happened to the driver of the car?"

Emily jerked her head up; her face was contorted with anger now. "Not a damn thing. Mother thought it would be bad publicity; she was up for a new assignment. So she kept his name out of the press. Got the charges against him dropped." Emily was ranting now. Anna rubbed her back gently, trying to calm her down.

"Emily, we need a name. This could affect the case." Rossi pushed.

"He's not our Unsub." Emily said.

"Emily, you can't know that-" Rossi started.

Emily cut him off. "He's dead."

"We still need a name, Emily." Hotch said softly. Emily loved it when he used her first name, and that calmed her down more than anything else. She took a deep breath.

"Samuel Prentiss. My father hit my sister with his car. He didn't want her to tell anyone that he'd punched her. So he went after her, and he saw her running. The crime scene techs said the car actually sped up during the moments before impact. My father tried to murder my sister."


	6. Chapter 6

So, here's the next chapter. Thanks for reading, and please review!  


* * *

Hotch had told everyone to pack it in for the night. Everyone agreed, and as last of Garcia's computers shut down the agents went back to their rooms. Anna cleared the straggling kids out of the rec room in the basement and bid everyone goodnight before going to her room as well.

Hotch was pacing the length of his room over and over. He was worried about Emily. He'd very nearly crossed the line in the conference room earlier. But he hadn't been able to help himself, she looked so vulnerable sitting there and for the first time, she looked like she needed somebody. Hotch had never seen Emily Prentiss look like that, not even in the moments when she'd first escaped Cyrus' compound. He, and everyone on the team, took for granted the fact that Emily was a rock. Everyone on the team knew that they could reach out for her when they needed help. Even he had done it a few times, especially after what had happened with the Reaper. And now it was their turn to be there for her.

These were the thoughts that were running through his head as he found himself knocking softly on her door, not wanting to wake her if she was already asleep. He was just about to go back to his own room when the door opened. Emily stood there in sweatpants and a t-shirt, her hair pulled back in a loose ponytail.

"Hotch. Is everything okay?" She looked only mildly surprised to see him.

"You tell me, Prentiss." He used her last name purposely. He knew he crossed a line earlier.

"I'm fine, Hotch. I just got a little emotional, that's all."

"Okay. If you're sure. Good night, Prentiss."

"Good night, Hotch." She closed the door. Three seconds later, she opened it again.

"Hotch!"

He stopped. Turned.

"Could we talk?"

He nodded and walked into the room. She gently shut the door behind him. She sat at the foot of the bed and he sat next to her, a comfortable distance away.

"This is hard for me, Hotch."

"This would be hard for anyone, Prentiss." Again with the last name.

"I don't just mean the situation with my sister. I mean talking to people. About the past, about my feelings."

When she didn't continue, Hotch took the lead. "You can talk to me, Emily." Finally. The first name. It was hearing her name pass his lips that made her talk. She couldn't explain it. That was ironic. She was a profiler, and she couldn't even explain her own behavior.

"That night, after I saw Anna at the hospital, I went looking for my father. I drove to his house; the car was in the driveway, just sitting there. I parked mine and got out. There was a dent in the front bumper of his car, where he'd hit Anna."

"What happened next?" Hotch asked softly.

"I went inside. I was yelling his name, screaming at him to show his face. I looked all over the house. I finally found him upstairs, in Anna's bedroom. He was sitting on her bed. I could actually smell the booze coming off of him. I didn't even see the gun at first. He was just sitting there staring off into space. And then, our eyes met. He didn't even say anything. He put the gun to his head and…pulled the trigger. That was all there was to it."

Her voice had gotten softer as she continued the story. But it gained volume as she spoke again.

"I called 911, and then I had to sit there, next to his body while I waited for the police. You know that sickly sweet smell of blood mixed with gunpowder? I had to sit there and smell that for ten minutes. I had to sit there knowing that smell was there because my father was dead."

Hotch took her hand now. "I'm so sorry."

She barked a short, mirthless laugh. "You know what the worst part is? At that point, I didn't even care that he was dead. I thought he deserved it. What kind of person thinks their own father deserves to die?"

Hotch saw them now. The tears running silently down her cheeks. And that broke his heart.

"Emily, you were in shock. You know that. You weren't thinking straight. Don't dwell on those moments." He made his voice as gentle as he could while still trying to be firm. "Your father's death was not your fault."

Emily barked that same short laugh again. "Fault. Blame. Guilt. It's like a broken record, Hotch. Everybody keeps talking about it. 'It's not your fault, Emily. No one blames you, Emily.' People do blame me, Hotch. I blame me. I should have been there to protect her! I knew what he was like and I didn't do anything to get her out of there. Tell me again how it's not my fault."

"Emily, no one could have predicted what was going to happen. Anna was a competent adult; she made the decision to stay with your father. From the little I've talked to her, you wouldn't have been able to change her mind not matter what you said. And blaming yourself isn't helping anyone. It's time to get past it, Emily. You've got to move on and let go."

She turned her head to look at him and gave a sad smile. "I don't know how, Hotch."

"You need to start by talking to Anna. Apologize, get it all off your chest."

"I have, Hotch. Over and over we've had this conversation. That night at the hospital, the night after that. She came to live with me when she was discharged. We talked almost every night. We still talk a few times a week." She paused. "She was the first person I called after Cyrus. She talked me down that night. She's talked me down more nights than I can count. She's already forgiven me, Hotch. So why can't I forgive myself?"

"Have you tried?"

"Excuse me?"

"Have you tried forgiving yourself? Or have you just hoped that forgiveness would come with time? Because you and I both know that that isn't what happens."

This time, they were both quiet. They sat comfortably in silence for a few minutes, Emily drawing strength from Hotch and he from her. They were still holding hands. Emily looked at their entwined fingers and couldn't resist another small smile.

"Thanks Hotch."

He met her eyes and gave a small smile of his own. "Anytime Emily."

With that, he squeezed her hand one last time, stood, and left her room. Emily, in turn, pulled down the sheets on her bed and turned out the light. She knew Hotch was right. It was time to forgive herself.

* * *

Morgan was awakened by the shrill chime of a cell phone. He groaned and looked at his clock. It was two thirty in the morning. But, when he checked his phone, he realized the call wasn't meant for him. He rolled over and shut his eyes again. But since he was awake, he heard her speak softly; though his door was closed, she slept with hers open.

"This is Anna." A pause. "I'm sorry; unfortunately we can't take in anymore people right now due to unforeseen circumstances." Another pause. "How old?" Pause. "For how long?" Sigh. "Alright. Bye."

He heard the click as she flipped her phone shut, but then everything was quiet. He drifted off again.

* * *

Morgan jerked awake not even a half hour later. He should have seen this coming! It was a trap, it had to be. The Unsub calls needing to do a drop off. He comes by the house. Damn! He yanked on a pair of pants over his boxers and threw on a shirt before grabbing his gun. Her door was still open, but the bed was empty. Stealthily, he walked the length of the hall. He didn't want to wake the rest of the team quite yet; he still didn't know if anything had actually happened.

He descended the stairs to the second floor and cleared that hallway too. Then he moved on to the first level. He raised his gun slightly as he heard a creak from what he knew to be the playroom. Slowly, he made his way to the doorway, stopping when he saw Anna's figure, her back to him, pacing. When she made it to the end of the room, she turned. In her arms were two babies, tiny babies. Somehow, she had managed to cross her arms enough to where she could hold both babies and feed them at the same time. And while she did that, she slowly walked around the room, trying to put them to sleep. Morgan waited a moment before entering the room; he wanted to holster his weapon.

She actually smiled when she saw him, which was a small miracle considering how badly he'd acted earlier in the day.

"Hey. Why are you up?" she asked.

"I could ask you the same thing." He countered.

"Drop off. Don't worry, it's only for tonight. Social Services can place them tomorrow; it was just too late to find them a place tonight. I know I should have cleared it with you first, but I didn't want to wake you."

Morgan held up a hand to stop her. "It's fine. One night isn't going to hurt." He moved toward her and managed to extricate one of the babies from the crook of her right arm, somehow managing to keep the bottle in the babies' mouth in the process. She smiled again.

"Thanks. You don't have to do this, you know."

"I don't mind."

The paced next to each other as they spoke. "You have a sister?" Anna asked.

Morgan nodded. "Two actually. Why?"

"I was just curious. You look comfortable holding the baby, so I figured you'd held one before. But, you're not wearing a ring, so I figured you aren't married. You don't look like the kind of guy who likes to be tied down."

He couldn't help but smile. "Oh? So what kind of guy do I look like?"

Anna regarded him for a moment. "I think…you grew up in a tough neighborhood. That's why you were so quick to label the bangers as trouble makers. But you don't have any gang tats," she motioned toward his arms the best she could, "so you managed to stay out of trouble. But you also grew up without your dad. You grew up surrounded by women, so you beefed up your image to compensate. Am I right?"

"On all counts." Morgan was slightly amazed. "How'd you figure that out?"

"Emily told me some of it. About your dad. I'm sorry you had to go through that." She admitted. Morgan was touched by the sincerity in her voice. He chose to gloss over the details of his past. That's not why he was here.

"You and Emily talk often?"

Anna smiled. "All the time. It's like we're twelve; we tell each other everything." She chuckled. Morgan smiled too; his sisters were the same way. The baby he was holding started to fuss and he adjusted his arms. The baby quieted down and continued sucking eagerly on the bottle.

"This is so surreal." She muttered softly.

"What is?"

"This whole thing, this whole situation. Emily would mention her cases sometimes, but they always seemed so far away, you know? Not now."

"Anna, we're gonna find this guy. I promise you that." Morgan tried to reassure her.

She sighed. "I know. It's just that, part of me can't help but think that this is all just a waiting game. I feel like I'm waiting for him to come get me, like it's inevitable."

"Don't say that." Morgan barely raised his voice, but the small children stirred nonetheless. He lowered it again. "We are one of the best teams the BAU has. You're safe with us. He can't get to you. We won't let him." He looked her in the eye and she saw no doubt there.

Turning her attention to the baby she was holding, she said, "We could probably put them down now." He followed her upstairs, confused when she passed the second floor and continued to the third.

"Where are you going?"

"I can't just put them in a room by themselves." She continued until they reached her own room and Morgan saw that there was a crib in one corner. She put the first child down and Morgan did the same with the one he was holding.

"Thanks Agent Morgan. For everything."

"Anytime Anna. Anytime."


	7. Chapter 7

Here's the next chapter, as always, please review!

* * *

He dragged the second body until it was lying right next to the first one. When he was satisfied, he stepped back to admire his handiwork, reflecting on the events from the past few hours.

_"Please, what do you want?" She had begged. "I'll do anything!" _

_ "I told you, Maureen, you can end this any time you want. You know what you have to do."_

_ "No, don't hurt her. Please don't hurt her."_

_ "It's your choice, Maureen." He hit her again and as she fell, she hit her head. And then she stopped moving. _

_ He bent and felt for a pulse and finding one, he released the breath he'd unconsciously been holding. It wouldn't do if she died before making the call. He'd left the room to wait for her to wake again._

_ When she did, he'd finally convinced her to make the call. She had, and it was as satisfying as always._

_ "Kathy?" She'd whined._

_ Her sister had responded with the usual questions: where are you, are you okay, what's going on. Maureen had done her part, telling her sister she needed her to come get her, to come help her. Kathy had. And when Kathy had realized who he was, she knew she was going to die. And she knew why. _

He looked at the bodies one last time and patted the envelope in his pocket that held the photos. His heart raced. He was close, so very, very close to being finished.

* * *

A few days passed with no new leads. Everyone's frustration was growing as the team met wall after wall with their leads. Garcia hadn't been able to find any connection at all between the victims at all. Except for one thing she couldn't figure out. Some of the victims had a hole in their backgrounds, a period of time where she couldn't find anything on them at all. It was as if they vanished then reappeared a few years later. But even with that link, she couldn't figure out how these holes fit in.

Anna had managed to find a place for everyone to go, including the babies that she and Morgan had put to sleep a few nights before. The big house was eerily quiet without the laughter of children and the gossip of the other clients. And since she didn't have a houseful of people to take care of, she was spending her time doing house repairs. Morgan wasn't surprised; Anna wasn't the kind of woman to handle immense stress by sitting around doing nothing. Plus, she was Emily's sister. After her time with Cyrus, Emily had finished more paperwork in two days than she had during the week before. Morgan knew that this was a coping mechanism for Emily and figured that it was Anna's as well.

Strauss had called Hotch that morning, demanding to know when the team was coming back. Hotch actually passed the phone to JJ, who tried to explain that they were legitimately working a case and that the paperwork had just recently been submitted. Strauss said that she didn't appreciate not being kept in the loop about the team's cases. JJ apologized while simultaneously rolling her eyes at Hotch and promised to do her best to make sure Strauss was informed. JJ grimaced when she hung up the phone.

"Pleasant, as always."

"She has a point." Rossi said, having just entered the room. "We can't stay here indefinitely."

"So what are we going to do, leave the case to the locals? They didn't even realize they had a case." JJ said incredulously.

"Listen, you guys can go back. I'll talk to Strauss. I'm not leaving until this guy is caught." Emily declared. Reid stayed quiet, not wanting to take sides.

Hotch shook his head. "We'll stay as long as we can." That was the end of the argument. "Okay, let's go over what we have so far. Where's Morgan?"

"I'll find him." JJ said, walking out of the conference room that, in the past few days, had become decorated with photo after photo of crime scenes, victims, and possible suspects, none of whom had panned out.

She followed the sound of voices and power tools to a room on the second floor where she found Anna and Morgan putting up drywall. They were both laughing at something Anna was saying. JJ paused in the doorway before announcing herself. They both looked so content and if she didn't know what was going on, she would say that these two people were living great lives. No outsider would have guessed that one was the victim of a serial killer and the other was a FBI agent. She cleared her throat.

"Morgan, Hotch needs you in the conference room."

"Okay, what's up?"

"He just wants to go over what we've got so far."

Morgan turned his gaze to Anna. "You're good?"

She smiled. "I'm good."

Morgan followed JJ out of the room. She glanced sideways at him. "So, what did I walk in on?"

"What?" Morgan asked innocently.

"You and Anna. What's going on there?" She was smiling now.

"Nothing's going on, JJ." He insisted.

"Uh-huh. I may not be a profiler, but I do know what I saw." With one last glance over her shoulder, she entered the conference room.

Morgan shook his head and followed her in.

Hotch didn't waste any time. "Here's what we've got. Our Unsub is killing sets of siblings. One goes missing before the other, and that one is severely beaten."

Reid picked up. "The other has no signs of physical trauma except for multiple gunshots to the torso. There doesn't seem to be a sexual component to these crimes either."

"Still, the Unsub is most likely male between the ages of twenty five and forty. He's physically fit and he likely comes from a broken home. No one has that much rage without some kind of violent history." Emily added.

"It personal," Rossi continued. "He's targeting these victims for a reason. Garcia, you still haven't been able to find a connection between the victims?"

"No, sir. Sorry. As far as I can tell, these victims never even met each other. They lived all over the country, visited different grocery stores, dry cleaners, everything."

"So, we've got a bunch of victims that have pissed this Unsub off in some way. That doesn't get us far." Morgan said, rubbing his brow.

The words had barely left his mouth when Anna entered the room, looking more flustered than Morgan had ever seen her.

"There's another envelope. Downstairs. I didn't touch it." She was breathless and Reid stood to help her to a chair as Rossi and JJ donned gloves and headed to the lower level. Emily moved to sit next to her sister.

"When did you notice it?" Hotch asked.

"Just a few minutes ago. I don't know how long it's been there though. I just went downstairs to the kitchen and it was lying there."

Rossi and JJ reentered the room, JJ held the envelope. "He wasn't outside." Rossi reported. JJ spread the pictures on the table; they were similar to the others, though this time, both victims were women. Like the others, one had been beaten and the other shot. The note was different this time too.

**You're next.**


	8. Chapter 8

Here's the next chapter. As always, please review!!

* * *

Hotch told JJ to call the local chief of police and let them know that they needed to be looking for two more bodies. He promised to let surrounding precincts know; they didn't actually know where the bodies were. Hotch also had Garcia send out an FBI memo to let all the branches know the same thing. Unfortunately, until word came back from one of those locations, there was nothing they could do. Garcia was trying to get a match on the faces of the victims from DMV records. Her computers were all running down the faces of women who fit the descriptions of the victims but there wasn't anything she could do to speed that along.

"We're missing something." Rossi said wearily, rubbing his brow.

"I know." Hotch agreed solemnly. "But what?"

Rossi didn't have an answer. Neither did anyone else.

The team spent the next few minutes going over the profile again. And again. They bounced ideas back and forth. They came up with nothing new. It was a male. Physically fit. Very angry. The victims were dumped in the same city where they were taken, so he managed to find some place private to stay with them. What they didn't know was why he was targeting these particular victims. Garcia still hadn't been able to find any apparent connections between the victims. That was their biggest setback. Without a motive, their profile was incomplete at best. They couldn't truly get inside this Unsub's head without a motive.

There was a lull in the conversation as each profiler tried desperately to find some piece of information they'd previously overlooked. They were all startled when Anna spoke up.

She shifted in her chair and leaned forward before she spoke. "So, what do I do?"

"Sit tight. We'll have agents here at all times. He won't get to you." Morgan said.

"That's not what I meant. What do I do if he does get to me? I need to know what to do to slow him down or calm him down or whatever."

"Anna, you don't need to worry about that. It's not gonna happen." Emily said adamantly.

"Humor me." She eyed her sister. It would have been humorous if the situation hadn't been so dire.

"It's not gonna happen, Anna." Morgan repeated Emily's words, but he was cut off by Rossi.

"She needs to know." He eyed Morgan, then Emily, moving to take a seat across from Anna. When neither of them spoke up, he continued. "This guy has a lot of rage. Don't provoke him. That is, don't challenge what he says. Even if you don't agree with what he says, even if the things he tells you are completely false and you know it, agree with him. He thinks he's right, and nothing can change that. Trying to make him see your side of things will be useless and it will only make him angrier."

Anna nodded. "Okay. What else?"

"We're at a disadvantage right now because we don't know his motive. But, we do know that the victim that is taken first is beaten." He searched Anna's face for any sign of emotion and found none. Damn compartmentalization. "It's likely that, given the lack of sexual assault, he uses these beatings as his form of sexual release. To him, beating the crap out of someone is better than sex." He paused before continuing. "Here's the problem. If he gets what he wants, there's no reason for him to keep you alive. If he doesn't get what he wants, he might escalate."

"What does he want?"

"He likes causing pain. To him, hearing sounds of pain is like no other sound in the world."

"So what you're saying is, to stay alive, I have to stay quiet while he beats me, which in fact, is going to cause him to beat me more?"

Rossi took a moment before he answered, trying to find some way to phrase it differently. He came up with nothing. "Basically, yes."

Anna exhaled. "Well, this is going to be fun."

"Anna, I told you. You don't have to worry about that. He's not going to get to you." Emily was adamant. "I won't let him."

Hotch spoke before the discussion could go any further. "We're on hold until the bodies are found. Why doesn't everybody get some rest-" He was interrupted by JJ's phone.

"Agent Jareau." She answered. "Yes. Okay, thank you." She disconnected.

"They found the bodies. They're local, just outside the city. Still no ID."

Hotch switched gears. "Okay. Dave, JJ, Reid, and I will go to the scene. Morgan and Emily, you stay here. Garcia, keep trying to get names for those faces. Let's go."

After they left, Anna stood. "I'm gonna go make some coffee. Anyone want some?"

"I'll go with you." Emily said. Morgan opted to stay with Garcia.

"Aw, sugar, tell the truth. You just don't want me to get lonely up here all by myself." She purred as the sisters left the room. Morgan laughed.

"You know it Baby Girl."

Anna looked sideways at Emily as they walked down the stairs. "So, what's going on with them?"

"Them who?"

"Agent Morgan and Penelope. Are they a thing?"

Emily actually smiled. "Not romantically. They're more like best friends. Besides, Morgan's only got eyes for you." She jabbed her sister in the side with her elbow.

Anna laughed. "Yeah, right. He's a nice guy."

"Anna, kittens are nice. Derek Morgan, king of the players is more than nice. And it looks to me like he'd be willing to give up that bachelor lifestyle of his."

"Yeah. Okay Em. Let's put it this way. I'll go for him when you admit your feelings for Hotch."

"What feelings?" Emily asked innocently.

"Oh, don't even give me that. I heard him in your room the other night. Sneaky sneaky."

"Come on, it wasn't like that. We were talking."

"Uh-huh."

"Really! I told him about Dad." Emily's voice trailed off.

"Are you serious? I don't think you've told anyone that before. I haven't even told anyone that before."

"Are you pissed?"

"Emily, this just proves my point. You trust him enough to tell him _that_, there's something there." Anna knew she had her.

"He's a _friend_."

"Whatever you say Emily. Whatever you say."

* * *

This crime scene was like the others. Two victims lying side by side. One was severely beaten; the other had several shots to the torso. Reid thought that the one who had been shot actually looked a little familiar, but he couldn't place her, which was extremely frustrating, especially for him.

"The ME places time of death about eight hours ago for the victim who was beaten. The other died an hour later." JJ reported.

"So he kills them an hour apart, why?" Rossi asked.

"Well, the second victim hasn't been reported missing in any of the crimes. Only the first one is taken." Hotch said.

"What about the phone calls?" JJ asked.

"What if the phone calls are a lure of some kind?" Reid asked.

"What do you mean?" Rossi questioned.

"In all of the cases, the first victim is beaten for a varying number of hours. Right before they're killed, they make a phone call to the other sibling. An hour or so later, that sibling is shot. What if the Unsub is making one sibling call the other to lure them to him?"

"That doesn't make sense, Reid." Hotch said. "Why not just take the sibling he was really after? Why take one to get to the other and then kill both?"

"I have no idea." Reid sounded mystified. JJ's phone rang again, and she stepped aside to answer.

"Let's go with it for a second. Maybe we've been looking at this all wrong. We know that he's killing both siblings. There's a reason for that. But, it is possible that he's targeting the second sibling."

JJ stepped back toward the other agents. "You may be on to something. Go ahead Garcia."

"Okay boys and lady. Still no IDs on the latest victims, but here's what I do have. I was digging through the lives of some of the other victims and I found something interesting. All of the second siblings received an email from the same address. Before you ask, I already tried to trace it and I got zip. But. And it's a big but. All of the emails had a link. So, me being me, I found out where the links went. They were links to a video. Its super sophisticated, from what I can tell, the videos were originally hosted on websites that streamed them live. After they were finished streaming, they were stored." Her voice lost some of its perkiness. "I started watching them. And you guys really need-hang on. Morgan? Emily?"

"Garcia, what's going on?" JJ asked.

They heard muffled yelling. Then Garcia's voice. "You guys need to get back here, hurry!"

"Garcia, stay on the phone. What's going on?" Hotch was running now, back to the SUV, Dave, Reid, and JJ following closely behind.

There was a grunt of pain on the other end of the line in response.

"Garcia!" Hotch yelled.


	9. Chapter 9

Next chapter! Please let me know what you think!

* * *

Hotch, Rossi, Reid, and JJ rushed toward the house, weapons drawn but lowered. The front door was open. Hotch went in first, Rossi behind him. They went right, toward the kitchen. There was a small puddle of blood on the floor and a few chairs were overturned. JJ and Reid went left toward the playroom. It was clear. A quick check of the basement showed that it too was clear. They climbed the stairs listening for anything that would clue them in as to what awaited them at the top. They grew alarmed when they saw blood on the stairs as well. They split up again to clear the bedrooms on the second floor. Nothing. They climbed some more, hearts racing. Anna's office. Clear. Anna's room. Clear. Emily's room. Clear. The rest of the bedrooms. Clear. The door to the conference room was closed and there were smudges of blood on the floor. They pressed themselves against the wall right outside the door. Hotch nodded then kicked it in because Morgan wasn't there to do it himself. They saw Garcia first, lying on the floor by the table. Reid found Morgan lying on the other side of the table. Both were unconscious; there was a small pool of blood around Morgan's head. Both of them had a pulse, however, and everyone breathed easier. JJ was on the phone with the paramedics when Garcia stirred.

"Oh lordy." She moaned. Rossi put a hand on her shoulder. "Don't try to sit up. The paramedics are on their way."

"No argument here." She lay back down and her eyes fluttered closed again.

"Garcia!" Rossi half shouted.

"I'm here. Don't worry."

"Garcia, where are Anna and Emily?"

"They were downstairs, in the kitchen."

"They're not there now. Where did they go?"

"I…don't know." She tried to sit up again, but Rossi held her back. "They're not here?" She was catching on. "What about Derek?"

"He's here. Reid's with him. Tell me what happened."

"I found the videos…I showed Derek…he went to tell Anna and…Emily. They were in the kitchen." She struggled to remember. "I heard yelling, none of them answered when I called out. I came back to the phone…and that's all. Until now. Oh my God." She came to the same conclusion everyone else already had.

Sirens pierced the silence that ensued. They heard paramedics enter the front door, and JJ went to guide them to the conference room. They rushed in and pushed Rossi aside so they could look at Garcia. A low moan followed by a steady stream of cursing assured Rossi that Morgan was waking up.

The able agents stepped just outside the room to confer.

"What did Garcia say?" Hotch asked.

"That she found the videos, and Morgan was on his way to tell Emily and Anna what she'd found. She heard shouting but no one would answer her when she called out. Then the Unsub must have jumped her. She doesn't remember anything else. What about Morgan?"

Hotch shook his head. "He's still not completely conscious. He didn't say anything."

"So, where are Anna and Emily?" Reid asked the question none of them wanted to think about.

"Why would the Unsub take them both?" JJ asked. "That changes his MO completely."

"I don't know. We need to see those tapes. We missed something."

"What if the Unsub didn't take them both?" Reid queried. "What if he took Anna and Emily went after them?"

"She's not answering her phone, and it's not here. I don't think she would ignore our calls if she could answer." Hotch said. He was worried; they all were.

Both paramedics exited the conference room. The first spoke. "Ms. Garcia and Agent Morgan are going to be fine. Ms. Garcia was hit on the back of her head but other than a headache, there's no lasting damage. Agent Morgan was repeatedly hit; there are bruises not only on his head but on his torso as well. We've dressed the wound on the back of his head, he'll be fine, but he needs to take it easy for a few days."

"Thanks." Hotch shook his hand and the paramedics departed.

Morgan and Garcia were both sitting at the table when the agents reentered.

"Where the hell are Anna and Emily?" Morgan sputtered.

"Morgan, we don't know." Hotch said. "What happened?"

"I was up here. Garcia found the videos, we figured out what they were. I'll tell you in a minute." He answered Reid's unasked question. "I went downstairs to the kitchen; Anna and Emily were having coffee. When I got down there it sounded like there was fighting inside. There were three men, Anna was on the floor, and she wasn't moving. Emily's gun was across the room; she was fighting two of them. One of them pulled out a taser; they used it on her right as I walked in. The two guys came at me, I thought I was winning." Morgan grimaced. "Apparently not."

"You said there were three men?" Rossi clarified.

"I think the other one was the Unsub. He was just standing in the corner of the room, watching. He didn't move the whole time I was in there. I hit one of the guy's heads against the counter and he went down. I thought he was unconscious. He must have hit me from behind. Then I guess they dragged me up here. Hotch, I'm sorry. Damn it!" He slammed his fist down on the table.

"It's not your fault, Morgan." Hotch said.

"But why did he take them both?" JJ asked the question again.

"Maybe he usually does. Maybe the other sibling is just never reported missing." Rossi said.

"He never has before." Garcia spoke up.

"How do you know?" Rossi asked sharply.

"The videos." Morgan said. "Show them, Baby Girl."

They crowded around Garcia's computers. She clicked a few buttons and a picture popped up on the screen. A man was lying on the floor, seemingly unconscious. It was Jackson Thomas, the victim before last. The man they presumed to be their Unsub was standing over him. He spoke.

"This can all be over, Jackson. It's your call. All you have to do is call your brother and he can come get you."

The body on the floor moaned. "No. Please."

The Unsub flew into a rage. He screamed as he pummeled the body on the floor. Garcia fast forwarded, and then stopped.

The Unsub spoke again. "Just make the call, Jackson. You can end this."

"Okay. Alright. I'll call. Just please, stop." The Unsub handed Jackson a phone and he placed a call to his brother. "Come get me." The Unsub spoke into the phone now, and gave an address. When he hung up, the screen went black.

"That's it?" Reid asked.

"Not exactly. Remember how I told you that some of this was streamed live? Well, part of the video was streamed later. The time stamps place this next video right after the call, but it didn't go online until a few hours later. She clicked another button and the same room filled the screen.

"Okay, I made the call. Now what?" Jackson asked.

The Unsub didn't answer. He just raised a baseball bat and beat Jackson with it until he was dead. Then he went out of camera range, but didn't leave the room. Garcia fast forwarded again until Jackson's brother walked into the room. He rushed to his brother's body and the Unsub spoke.

"You're too late."

Robert Thomas turned to face the Unsub. "Why?"

To answer, the Unsub raised his weapon and fired again and again. Robert fell on top of his brother's body. Then the video went blank for a second time.

"That's all." Garcia reported.

Rossi recovered first. "What happened on the first part of the video?"

Morgan answered. "The victims wake up. The Unsub is real polite at first, almost charming. He asked them a bunch of questions."

"About what?" JJ asked.

"Family. Their past. Mainly, their relationship with their siblings. And he beats them. A lot. His questions get more personal and when they don't answer, he beats them more. Eventually, he starts telling them that all they have to do to end everything is call their sibling. Most of them refuse at first, from what we can tell. But in the end, they all do."

"We completely missed the profile on this one. This guy takes one sibling and sends the other a video. He wants to know everything about their relationship, good and bad. And he beats them. All this while the other sibling watches." Rossi summarized.

"We've been looking at this the wrong way." Reid declared. "We've been under the impression that he's mainly targeting the victim he actually takes. I don't think that's the case. I think his real target is the other sibling in the set."

"How so kid?" Morgan asked.

"He doesn't just want his victims to feel physical pain; he wants them to feel emotional pain. He makes them feel guilty. He takes their sibling and makes them watch, helpless as he beats them. Then, he exploits their relationship. Jackson Thomas didn't know he was being taped, he was revealing personal information that siblings tend to keep between themselves." Reid spoke faster and faster as he went on. "I think he's projecting his own feelings onto these siblings. Something happened in his life that he feels guilty about. He couldn't deal with it anymore, so he starts projecting."

"So, his target would really be Emily, not Anna." Hotch concluded.

"So why take both of them?" JJ asked again.

"When the others were taken, they were by themselves. Maybe when he saw Emily, he saw it as too much of an opportunity to pass up." Rossi posited.

"We need to look for connections between the other siblings. Garcia, get on that. If you're up to it." Hotch allowed.

"You betcha boss man." She typed furiously as she spoke. She hadn't been typing for long when her computer started beeping. "Alrighty, we have an ID, two of them actually. The latest victims were…Maureen and Kathy Evanson."

It clicked for Reid at that point. "Kathy Evanson? Garcia, check and see if she spent any time in Colorado."

"What is it Reid?" Morgan asked.

"Kathy Evanson took a flight out of Colorado about a year ago, no clue as to how she got there though."

"Reid, what is it?" Hotch asked.

"Kathy Evanson was at Cyrus' compound when Emily and I were trapped. She was the one who placed the initial phone call that sparked the whole thing. Garcia, read me the names of the other siblings."

She did.

"They were all there. Garcia, the first three victims were cops, right?"

"Yeah."

"They were on the initial assault team. The rest of the victims were there, but they got out. Cyrus made the loyalty list, remember? The other victims were names on that list, I'm sure of it!" Reid said.

"Reid, Cyrus is dead. I shot him." Morgan said slowly.

"The previous sect leader said nothing about a sibling." Rossi said. "It was just Cyrus and his mother."

"But what about his father? Garcia, see what you can find." Hotch directed.

"Okay, crossing his mother's name with hospital records dating back before they showed up at the compound. Bingo. Jinkies. Looks like she gave birth to a son four years before Cyrus was born then divorced his father after the second child. The older one went with his dad; our friendly neighborhood psychopath went with mom to the compound. Brother's name is…Jonathan Mulgrew. That was Cyrus' name before he changed it. Looks like their father's last name."

"So, Cyrus' brother is avenging his death by killing the people who betrayed him? How does he know who to target?" Morgan asked.

"Garcia, check Cyrus' phone records." Hotch ordered.

"Checking…double jinkies. The night before the standoff, there's a call from Benjamin Cyrus to Jonathan Mulgrew. It lasted over an hour. That night, Jonathan Mulgrew boarded a plane headed to Colorado. He landed just after the explosion."

Hotch ran his hands through his hair and let out a breath he didn't know he'd been holding. "Our Unsub is Jonathan Mulgrew. He feels guilty about not being able to save his brother. Cyrus must have given him a list of people he felt betrayed by. He's taking the siblings of those people to target the people who betrayed his brother. He has them make a phone call, tells the sibling that they can save the victim. But then he kills his prisoner. The other sibling shows up and knows they've failed. Then he kills them too."

"So what does he get if he has Emily and Anna in the same place?" Morgan asked.

"He gets to watch the guilt up close. He gets to watch Emily self destruct right in front of him." Rossi said.

They were interrupted by Garcia's computer beeping frantically.

She looked confused. "Emily just got an email from the same address that sent the other videos. But why would he send her an email when he has her? There's no need."

"He's already broken his typical procedure. Maybe he's just trying to keep the rest of the crime as normal as possible." JJ suggested.

"Maybe." Reid said slowly.

"Open the email, Garcia." Hotch said.

She did. The link opened up to a video just like the others but the room was different. And it was empty.

"Where are they?" Morgan asked.

They heard a door open. The way the camera was placed, they couldn't actually see the door to the room, but they could still hear it. And they could see their Unsub walk in. He was carrying Anna who was unconscious. They could see a wound on her forehead, but it didn't look like it was still bleeding. He set her down on the floor and left the room. When he came back, he was carrying Emily. He set her down as well and left the room again, slamming the door behind him. The team was left staring at Garcia's computer screen. Staring at the unmoving bodies of Anna and Emily Prentiss.


	10. Chapter 10

So, here's the next chapter, let me know what you think!

* * *

Rossi recovered his composure first. "Garcia, can you trace this?"

Her fingers were already flying. "I'm trying, I'm trying. This guy's good though, he's bouncing his signal all over the place."

"Keep trying."

"I am. But I swear, he's really good. I can't get a hold of his signal"

"What are you saying Garcia?" Hotch asked.

"I can't trace it. I'm sorry, I'll keep trying, but if I do get a trace, it won't be right away."

Hotch exhaled. Right now there was nothing they could do.

The team sat in silence for almost a half hour willing either Anna or Emily to show some sign of life. Finally, Emily started stirring. She moaned softly and her eyes fluttered open. She turned her head to the side and saw Anna lying a few feet away.

"Anna?" her voice was hoarse.

"Yeah?" JJ actually jumped; no one had realized that Anna was awake.

"Are you okay?"

"I'm peachy. You?"

"I'm fine." As she spoke, Emily managed to sit up slowly and as she did so, she realized her hands were cuffed behind her back. From the looks of it, Anna's were too. "Can you sit up?"

"Well, I will just as soon as the room stops spinning. I feel like I did when I was five and you told me that if I spun around in circles for five minutes straight I could make Santa Claus appear."

Emily laughed briefly. "I remember that." The smile faded. "Seriously. How's your head?"

"It's fine." She sat up. The way the Unsub had placed her, she was able to scoot so that her back was against the wall. She sat back and leaned her head gently against the wall. Her eyes closed again. "So. Where are we?"

Emily looked around. "I honestly have no idea. This is so far off the profile…he's never taken both siblings before. Listen to me, whatever happens, follow my lead, okay? Let me do the talking. Only talks if he speaks directly to you, and don't provoke him."

"Okay."

"I'm serious. You aren't going to be able to level with this guy. He's not going to let you."

"I got it, Emily. Stay quiet, let you do the talking. Easy peasy lemon squeezy."

Emily smiled at the rhyme they used to quote as children when they wanted to signal that everything was alright. Her smile dropped abruptly as she heard footsteps approaching from outside the door. It banged open and a man walked in. He was physically imposing, that was the first thing Emily noticed. He was both tall and muscular; Emily guessed that he'd served in the military at some point in his life. He was also handsome, which surprised her. That made sense though, especially with the female victims. He could have used that to charm them into his car or into a secluded area where he could overpower them. When he spoke, his voice was somehow smooth and authoritative at the same time.

"Get on your knees." Neither woman moved, and he drew his gun which had previously been concealed behind his back. "Do it now." He commanded. Emily shifted her weight so that she could do so, and Anna followed suit, grimacing as her weight hit her bad leg but managing to stay balanced nonetheless. Rossi's words flew into her head. _Don't show your pain._

"Very good." He lowered the weapon. "Do you know who I am?"

"No."Emily spoke truthfully, and the team was reminded of the fact that neither she nor Anna knew they were being watched. They didn't have the facts Garcia had uncovered.

The Unsub spoke again. "So you don't know why you're here?"

"No, we don't." Emily answered again; Anna stayed silent.

"Do you always speak for your sister?"

"Excuse me?"

"You said "we" don't know. Why can't your sister speak for herself?" He looked at Anna. "Are you capable of speaking for yourself?"

She glanced at Emily, who nodded slightly. "Of course I am." Her voice didn't waver.

"Then why do you let your sister speak for you?" Hotch realized what he was trying to do; already the Unsub was trying to pit them against each other.

"No particular reason."

"Are you sure?"

"Of course I'm sure."

The Unsub finally seemed satisfied and turned his head until he was looking pointedly at Emily. "You don't know who I am?"

"No" She shook her head for emphasis. She didn't even see the Unsub's fist until after it had connected with her jaw. She couldn't help but gasp as the force of the blow almost pushed her to the floor. She managed to catch herself at the last minute. Next to her, Anna made a move as if to help her and the Unsub whirled around.

"I swear to God if you move a muscle I will send her through this wall!"

Anna didn't doubt it, so she slowly shifted her balance back to where it had been before. The Unsub turned his focus back to Emily.

"You don't even know." He laughed softly, mirthlessly, and hit her again, this time the force of the punch managed to put her on the ground. As she righted herself, the Unsub spoke again. "I'll give you a hint. He's dead. You betrayed him right before he died."

"I'm sorry; I really don't know who you're talking about." He lip was bleeding now, and she had a blossoming black eye.

Hotch willed her to figure out who it was. He found himself repeating Cyrus' name over and over again in his head as if somehow she would hear his thoughts. He quickly surveyed his team; Garcia was furiously typing away, biting her lip in frustration, JJ was gripping a cup of coffee with both hands staring at the computer screen intently, Reid was pacing back and forth around the room and not looking at the screen at all, Morgan was leaned forward both hands on the table next to the computer, anger etched in all the lines of his face, Rossi looked the calmest and Hotch knew that this was only a façade, he was as worried about Emily and Anna as the rest of them were, he was just better at hiding it.

On screen, Emily had risen to her knees again. Her eyes didn't waver from the Unsub's face one bit. He bent down until his face was level with hers and spoke softly.

"You lied to him. You pretended to be somebody you aren't. You betrayed him."

It dawned on her. "Cyrus. Cyrus was your brother?"

The Unsub straightened. "There you go. I knew you would get it eventually. But his name wasn't Benjamin Cyrus, it was Christopher Mulgrew. He was forced to change his name because of the lies that were told about him."

"Your brother committed statutory rape. He had sex with little girls and got them pregnant." Emily spoke calmly, but sternly. She didn't even flinch as the Unsub hit her again.

"That's not true! Christopher was a good man! He respected women and children; he didn't do what they said he did!" He aimed a well placed kick at Emily's ribs and she could swear she felt one crack. She tried to curl her body to shield it from his foot but without her hands she couldn't shield it very well.

"You know it's true! Your brother was a sick son of a bitch; he molested those girls and stole from their families!"

Mulgrew's next kick hit her hip and sent pain resonating throughout her body. She too remembered Rossi's words and as much as she wanted to cry out, she bit her tongue. He kicked her in the head next. She wished he would stop, but she knew things were only going to get worse from here.

She was surprised to hear Anna's voice in the room. She'd almost forgotten she was there. She was barely hanging on to consciousness.

"How often did your father beat you?" Anna hadn't moved from where she was kneeling but she was glaring at Mulgrew.

The question caught him off guard. It caught everyone else off guard as well; Reid actually stopped pacing so he could listen more closely. Mulgrew managed to stop his kick right before it hit Emily again.

"What?" He walked toward Anna now, slowly and menacingly, his head cocked slightly to the side. Emily watched from her spot on the floor, unable to maneuver herself back to a kneeling position.

"I was just wondering how often your father beat you. Was it every night? Did he get drunk beforehand? Did he even try to control himself?"

"Shut up. Shut the hell up." Mulgrew grabbed a fistful of Anna's hair and yanked her to her feet. With his other hand he grabbed her throat and slammed her against the wall.

"Why? Does it bother you to talk about your past? Are you ashamed that you couldn't defend yourself against him?"

He squeezed her throat tighter and Anna gasped for air. He leaned in close to her and whispered directly in her ear. "Don't talk about what you don't understand." He flung Anna to the floor and the entire BAU team heard her head hit the ground. Morgan cursed softly and ran his hands over his short hair.

"We'll continue this later." He promised before leaving the room.

After the door slammed shut neither woman spoke for a moment. That silence was broken by Anna.

"Em? Are you okay?" She tried to crawl to her sister who was still lying on the ground.

Emily coughed and a fine trickle of blood eased out of the corner of her mouth. "I'm fine."

"Well, you look like hell."

Emily laughed, and then coughed. "Don't make me laugh. Are you okay?"

"Of course I am." Emily knew she was lying, her neck was already mottled with the purple mark of a handprint, but she decided against questioning Anna further. "So, how did you know he'd been abused?"

"No one could get that pissed off unless there was a lot of violence in his childhood."

"Seriously, how did you know?"

"Okay, seriously. You told me about Cyrus, Mulgrew, whatever. You told me he went to the compound with his mother. If this guy was his brother, that meant that he lived with his father. I see abused kids all the time, I know the signs. I see adults who were abused as children on a daily basis. He came in here all testosterone fueled and pulling power plays. I just knew."

"What happened to not provoking him? Letting me do the talking?"

"Well, what can I say? I guess neither of us is very good at following your advice." Anna quipped and Emily knew it was true.

"Sorry. I know I didn't help matters."

"Don't be sorry. But let's try using a different method."

"What method would that be?" Emily looked at her sister from the floor.

Anna grinned. "Let's give him hell."


	11. Chapter 11

Sorry for the long wait, I know it's been awhile since I updated. Anyway, here's the new chapter, please let me know what you think!

* * *

"Think about it, Emily. We're the Prentiss sisters. Together, we're enough to make Gandhi hate us."

"This Unsub isn't Gandhi, Anna. He already hates us." Emily pointed out.

"Come on, what's the worst that's going to happen?" Anna deliberately kept her voice light.

Emily spoke bluntly, knowing that's what Anna really wanted her to do. "If we provoke him, he's going to escalate. He'll snap. And then he'll kill us. Unless…"

"Unless what?"

"Okay, follow me on this one."

"I'm following."

"When he was in here before, he asked you why you let me speak for you. He was trying to get a rise out of you, trying to get you to say that it annoyed you, that it bothered you."

"Okay. So?"

"So he was trying to pit us against each other. I think that's what he wants. His issue is with me; he blames me for betraying his brother, but he targeted you first." Emily appeared to be talking more to herself now, she wasn't looking at Anna, though she had managed to sit up and was sitting with her back against the wall staring straight ahead.

Anna stared at her but stayed silent. Emily did this all the time; she needed to work through it in her own head before she could explain it.

"I'll bet anything that if he'd only taken you, he would have blamed it on me. He would have wanted you to think that I had betrayed you. He's trying to destroy our relationship, because that's what he feels happened to his brother. He feels like he betrayed his brother; that he let him down because he couldn't save him." She was talking faster now. "That's what the phone calls were about. He would have made you call me. He would have lured me here somehow; but he would have already killed you. He wants me to feel the way he did. And then he would have killed me." Her voice trailed off, and she turned her head to Anna.

"So eventually, he's going to kill us both."

"No."

"No?"

"No. The team will find us first. I can promise you that."

"So, what do we do in the meantime?"

Now Emily smiled. "It's like you said. We give him hell."

Anna grinned. This was the Emily she knew and loved. "What do you suggest we do?"

"Okay. We know he wants to destroy our relationship; pit us against each other. We just can't let him do that."

"Emily, he couldn't do that no matter how hard he tries." Anna said softly.

"I know that. But he doesn't."

"So what do we do?"

"It depends on what he does. We just have to show him that he can't tear us apart."

Anna smiled again. "This could be fun."

* * *

Morgan slammed his fist down on the table. "Dammit! What the hell are they thinking? This Unsub doesn't need any more provocation. They're going to get themselves killed." He yelled. On the tape, Emily and Anna were still talking softly; their voices low murmurs in the background.

"Morgan, take a walk. Calm down." Hotch instructed. He didn't like their plan any more than Morgan did, but he was trying to keep a level head. Morgan slammed out of the room at these words; they heard him storming down the stairs. Hotch leaned on the table and let out a long, slow breath. He knew that Emily wouldn't intentionally be reckless and that she was a fully trained FBI profiler, but at the same time, he couldn't help but feel that her plan was going to go terribly wrong. He vaguely noticed that Reid had left the room, presumably to go after Morgan. He pulled himself out of his reverie when he heard Rossi's voice next to him.

"Emily knows what she's doing. We have to trust that she's only making these calls because she's there. We can't know what's going on."

"But we do know what's going on. We're watching."

"Aaron, you know as well as I do that we can only get so much from the video. Emily and Anna are experiencing all of this first hand. Emily knows what she's doing." He said again.

Hotch knew he was right. But it didn't help as much as it should have.

Ross spoke again. "Aaron, you need to keep your personal feelings out of this. I know it's hard. But you can't be too close to this."

"We're all close to this Dave." Hotch regarded him sternly.

"You know what I mean. I know how you feel about Emily. I know how she feels about you."

"Emily is a member of this team. I care about her just like I care about everyone else." Hotch was almost glaring now and Rossi thought it best to drop the subject. Now wasn't the time to have this conversation.

Downstairs, Reid and Morgan were having a similar conversation, Reid making the same argument as Rossi.

"They know what they're doing." He concluded.

Morgan ran his hands over his head. "I know, I know. But this Unsub is volatile, kid. You saw that, we all did."

Reid cleared his throat. "Do you think you're overanalyzing this?"

"What's to overanalyze? We're profilers, Reid; this is what we're supposed to do." Morgan's voice was harsh.

He cleared his throat again. "Do you think it's because you have, um, romantic feelings for Anna?"

"She's a good person, Reid. I just want to bring her home safe. Her and Emily."

Reid nodded. "Okay, well, I would say they have a pretty good chance of getting back safe."

"What makes you say that? Are there statistics and probabilities of how often victims of serial killers survive? Because I would assume they're pretty damn low."

"No. Actually, statistically, if you look at all the serial killers and all of their victims and compare that to the number of potential victims-"

"Rhetorical Reid, that was rhetorical."

"Oh."

"So, if you weren't going to quote statistics, what were you going to say?"

"I was going to say that they're chances are good because they have us. And they know that we won't stop until we find them. But standing out here isn't doing them any good."

Morgan looked at his colleague. "You're right kid. You're right." Morgan headed for the stairs but paused before climbing them. "Reid?"

"Yeah?"

"Thanks."

The pair walked back upstairs where Garcia was still having no luck tracing the video. "I've tried everything I can think of. I can't trace it. And I have the property lists running searching for anything with any combination of the names Benjamin, Jonathan, Cyrus, and Mulgrew. If there's anything under any of those names I'll find it. But so far, I've got nothing." She sounded exasperated.

"Calm down, Baby Girl." Morgan said, rubbing her back lightly. "What do you have?"

"What I have, my burning hunk of handsome is the life of Benjamin Mulgrew. Lived with his dad after mom took Benjamin and left. I've got quite a few trips to the emergency room: broken arm, broken leg, concussion, you get the idea. Went to public school, mediocre student. No disciplinary problems. Enlisted in the Army right after high school. Barely made it through boot camp; he was dishonorably discharged a year later…apparently he had trouble taking orders."

"What happened?" JJ asked.

"He beat his commanding officer because he felt that he was being treated unfairly. There was no sign of provocation, and the C/O ended up in the hospital for over a month and required reconstructive surgery on his face...found guilty, sentenced to five years for assault but only served three. Get this; he got out on good behavior. No sign of trouble since then."

"So he was abused by his father, enlisted, but his childhood made him incapable of taking orders. He sees them as personal attacks." Morgan said.

"What about work? Is employed?" Hotch asked.

Garcia pressed a few keys. "No, his dad died a few years ago and daddy was loaded. There was no will, so Jonathan got everything."

"So he has unlimited time to plan and execute these murders. He's organized." Rossi posited.

"How did his father die?" Reid asked.

"His death was ruled as a suicide; police say he laid down on some train tracks and got hit by a freight train. But, there's a different police report for earlier that night; police were called to his father's house because of a dispute. The fight between Jonathan and his father got physical and neighbors called the police."

"What was the fight about?"

"According to the police report, money. His father thought Jonathan was irresponsible, he wanted him to get a job and start supporting himself. Jonathan didn't take kindly to that."

"He doesn't like being challenged. And when someone does challenge him; he gets violent. I'll bet anything he killed his father. If he did get run over by a freight train, that would mask any other injuries he sustained. He was probably dead before he was hit." Hotch said.

Morgan said what no one else would. "So Anna and Emily are going to provoke an Unsub that not only already wants to kill them, but who also kills people that provoke him. Fantastic." His voice was bitter.

"It might not happen like that." Rossi brought up. "Think about the other parts of the profile. He needs his victims to break. He has to turn one of them against the other."

"So?" Morgan asked.

"So, if Emily and Anna do what they're planning, he won't kill them. If he can't break them, he'll have to keep them alive until he does. He won't kill them just because they're making him mad."

"Yeah, but what will he do to them?" Reid asked.

As if on cue, they heard a door slam on the video. The Unsub was back.


	12. Chapter 12

Sorry for the long wait! Please review!

* * *

Emily and Anna looked up as he entered traces of smiles still on their faces.

"What's funny?" he seemed to have calmed down since his last visit. He looked expectant; he wanted them to answer his question.

"Nothing."Emily said, the smile leaving her face.

"Obviously it was something." The Unsub kept his voice pleasant but his eyes were telling a different story.

"It was an inside joke; you wouldn't understand." Anna piped up.

"She's baiting him." Rossi said; Hotch nodded in agreement.

But back onscreen, the Unsub hadn't lost his pleasant tone. "Do you two have a lot of inside jokes?"

"Tons." Emily nodded.

"Care to share some of them with me? They're obviously very amusing."

"No, not really. Thanks for asking though." Emily said. Anna managed to turn her laugh into a kind of small cough. The Unsub never turned his gaze to her.

"Why not?" The Unsub's smile slipped only for a moment before he fixed it back into place again.

"You wouldn't understand."

"Then help me understand." The Unsub's voice was authoritative now; his face no longer bore any remnants of a pleasant nature.

"Why?" Emily challenged. "It's really none of your business."

"I don't think you understand the position you're in here. I'm in control, not you." He hissed.

"If you say so." Emily said. This time, Anna couldn't help but chuckle.

Tension was mounting in the conference room. Though Emily appeared perfectly at ease, they all knew she was choosing her words carefully. And they also knew that it was only a matter of time before the Unsub lost control.

The Unsub took a moment to compose himself, turning away from Emily and Anna. When he turned back, he appeared calmer. He turned his focus to Anna.

"Let's start over. Anna. How are you?"

"Fantastic."

"Really."

"Yeah, why wouldn't I be?"

Apparently, the Unsub didn't have an answer to this question, for he looked at Emily next. "And you? How are you?"

"Fantastic." Emily echoed.

"Really. Well, it seems you both are in excellent spirits."

"Why wouldn't we be?" Anna and Emily answered in synchronicity. They glanced sideways at each other and suppressed small smiles.

"Very funny." The Unsub said, but he was glaring. He was getting close to going over the edge.

"Thanks." They said again, outright laughing this time, knowing it was pissing the Unsub off.

"It's amazing." Reid said, back in the conference room.

"What is?" Rossi asked.

"Their connection. There have been so many studies done on twin telepathy, but there's been no concrete proof either way. They're not twins of course, but still…"

On the screen, the Unsub was obviously fighting to keep his voice even; something everyone picked up on.

"I'm going to tell you something very, very important, so listen carefully. I know when I'm being lied to."

Emily gave him a blank stare. "Do you want a medal?"

He ignored her. "I'm telling you this because I have some questions for you, and I wanted you to know up front that lying to me is useless. And if you do, it will cost you. Do you understand?"

"No." Anna said.

"Excuse me?"

"I don't understand."

"You don't understand?"

"No."

"What don't you understand?"

"What you said. The lying thing. Could you explain it again?"

"I said that I always know when I'm being lied to-"

"Obviously not."

"Excuse me?"

"Well, apparently you don't always know when you're being lied to. I actually did understand what you said. I was just testing you. You failed." This was explained in such a tone so that it seemed that Anna was talking to a five year old. Emily cracked up while Anna looked innocently at Mulgrew.

Morgan smiled in spite of himself. Had the situation been different, he knew he would have been laughing. Hotch however looked more tense than ever.

Mulgrew had had it. He flew into the rage everyone had known was coming. With something resembling a roar, he grabbed Anna by the shoulders and threw her into the back wall. She crumpled to the floor. Emily had stood up in the midst of this and how charged at Mulgrew as hard as she could. She dug her shoulder into his abdomen, taking him by surprise, and kept running until his back met the wall. Without the use of her hands, however, she was defenseless as the Unsub shoved her away. She managed to remain on her feet and ducked as Mulgrew threw his fist at her. He missed and found himself slightly off balance. He turned to find that Emily was now on the other side of the room. A look of pure disgust on his face, he started toward her. Anna however, was in the perfect position to stick her leg out as the Unsub passed. She did so, and he stumbled. Emily took advantage of this opportunity to connect her foot with Mulgrew's chin. When he stood, his lip was bleeding, but he wasn't deterred. He lunged toward Emily who wasn't fast enough this time. Mulgrew grabbed a fistful of her hair, spun her around and crashed her into the wall. She flashed back to Cyrus; there wasn't a mirror for her to break this time though. He banged her head into the wall over and over; she felt herself getting dazed. Finally, she flew backwards and hit the floor. She tried to make herself stand, but she was too dazed to do so.

In the conference room, no one seemed to be breathing. Garcia had stopped typing and was staring at her computer screen with a look of horror on her face. JJ appeared to be biting her knuckle. Morgan's hands were curled into fists and Reid was staring intently at the computer screen, not moving. Only Rossi and Hotch remained stoic, though it was extremely difficult on Hotch's part. Dave's earlier words echoed in his head. It had been easy to deny them then, but now, it was more difficult. Watching Emily go through something like this again was tearing him apart. He knew though, that for the sake of his team, he couldn't show it. It was for that reason, and that reason only that he didn't move an inch while this was going on.

Thankfully, Mulgrew didn't seem to be planning on inflicting any more damage, at least not right now. He was breathing heavily; his lip was bleeding profusely where Emily had kicked him. When he spoke, his voice was controlled, almost dangerously calm. "That was a very stupid thing to do." He swiped at the blood on his lip and wiped his hand on his shirt, leaving a small trail of blood there. When he spoke again, it was more to himself than anyone else. "This isn't working. This isn't working at all." Then he yelled, pointing at Emily. "You messed this up. This is your fault!"

"My fault?" Emily retorted. Her voice sounded stronger than she looked. "This was your brother's fault. He had sex with little girls, exploited their religious beliefs to get people to go along with what he wanted."

"That's not true!" Mulgrew screamed back. "It's not true! Ben was a good man. He made something of himself. He helped people."

"Your brother was a filthy pervert!"Emily yelled at him.

For a moment, Mulgrew looked as though he was going to fly into a rage again. Instead, he turned away from Emily and grabbed Anna around her neck, pulling her to her feet. He dragged her to the door but paused before leaving the room. "This is your fault." He told Emily. And now you have to live with the fact that you got your sister killed." He pulled a gun from the waistband of his pants and placed against Anna's temple. He yanked the door open and started to drag her outside.

"Wait!" Emily yelled from inside the room. Mulgrew paused out of sheer interest. "Take me. This is my fault, like you said. Take me." She took a breath. "Kill me."

Mulgrew actually looked thoughtful. Anna met Emily's gaze, her eyes full of questions that Emily couldn't answer. Suddenly, Anna felt herself being thrown to the ground. When refocused, she saw that Mulgrew now had Emily in his grasp. Anna stumbled to her feet but only had time to meet Emily's eyes for a brief second before Mulgrew pulled the door closed.

Then, from right outside that door, a single gunshot rang out.


	13. Chapter 13

Thanks to all who reviewed the last chapter, I really appreciate it!

* * *

When Anna heard the shot, she stumbled backward a few steps.

"Emily!" she screamed. "Emily! Emily, answer me!" Over and over she screamed and got no response. Finally, she sank to the floor, her back against the wall. She leaned her head back and closed her eyes, willing the tears to stay where they were. Rossi's words were still running through her head. Mulgrew was probably watching. But after a few minutes, she came to a new conclusion, and let the tears flow freely. Her sister was dead, and it was her fault.

* * *

Hotch felt a strange feeling pulse through his body when he heard the shot. It was pain, at least, not physical pain. But he couldn't describe it. It was like a part of him was being torn apart. Anna's screaming only made it worse, not that he could blame her. Eventually, Garcia couldn't take it anymore either, and she pressed the mute button on her laptop.

A member of his team was down. She could be dead. But it was more than that. And right then, he knew that what Dave had said earlier was true. He loved Emily. Why hadn't he admitted it before? Why had he waited until it was too late? He was always too late. He'd been too late to save Haley. Now he was too late to save Emily. Why has he always too late?

He felt a hand on his shoulder and knew it was Dave. It called him back to reality and he anxiously surveyed the other members of his team. Rossi was looking at him with something he couldn't call pity, exactly, but a kind of anxiety. Hotch took a short moment to compose his face. It felt like his muscles weren't working right. He had to force them into a neutral state.

Looking around, he saw that Morgan was facing away from him, his forehead pressed against the wall. He looked like he was trembling and his right hand was curled into a fist that was banging against the wall over and over. Reid had sunk down into a chair; his head was resting in his hands. JJ was standing in the same spot she had been, her hand was pressed to her mouth and tears were streaming down her cheeks. Garcia was sobbing unabashedly.

Hotch saw all of this and for once in his life, he didn't know what to do. Strangely, the only thought running through his head was that Emily would know what to do. And with that thought, he sprang into action.

"JJ, call the locals. Tell them to be on the lookout for any Jane Doe's dumped in the area."

JJ looked at him, aghast. "Hotch, do you really think-?"

"We have to be ready for whatever happens. Garcia, I want you to call the local hospitals and tell them the same thing. Any Jane Doe matching Emily's description."

"Yes sir."

"Reid, put out an APB on Mulgrew. We don't know what kind of car he drives, so just put his physical description." When he got no response, he continued. "We have to stay focused. We'll know when Emily turns up. Right now, we still have to find Anna. Focus on her right now." He took a breath. "Excuse me."

With that, he left the room.

Rossi stared after him, but Morgan spoke. "Is he okay?"

"I honestly don't know. But you heard him. He's not our focus right now, Anna is. Garcia, have you had any luck at all tracing that video?"

"No, I'm sorry; I've tried everything I can think of. I just-I can't-it won't-I don't know."

Morgan had never heard Garcia so flustered. "Baby Girl, calm down. It's okay."

"No, it is not okay. Anna is still locked up with this psycho, Hotch is falling apart, and Emily might be-" She broke off with a sob.

Morgan put his arm around her and felt her head fall to his shoulder. "Its okay, Penelope, its okay."

JJ still hadn't moved from where she'd been standing. Reid noticed this when he lifted his head and he went to her. "JJ?" he asked tentatively. He got no response, so he touched her arm. "JJ, look at me." Still no response. Reid moved himself so that he was positioned right in front of her. Though her eyes were aimed at him, Reid got the feeling that she wasn't really seeing him. "JJ." He said more sternly. A fresh set of tears leaked out of her eyes.

"Spence…I can't do this." She said finally. She shook her head and looked around at her colleagues. "I don't know how to do this." She clarified.

Reid was about to offer words of comfort when he was interrupted by Hotch storming back into the room.

"This doesn't make sense." He said loudly.

Rossi had never seen Hotch like this. "Aaron, I know you want to believe that, but-"

Morgan however, cut him off. Morgan had only seen Hotch act like this once, and that was when Reid was trapped with Tobias Henkel. Then, Hotch had stormed out of the room only to return with a Bible so he could use it to find Reid. Morgan had the feeling that Hotch was on to something now. "Hotch, what're you thinking?"

"Mulgrew's target isn't Anna, its Emily."

"We know that already." JJ said.

"Right. We know he kidnaps the sibling and tortures them while his target watches. He sent Emily the video even though she wasn't here. But why would he kill her and keep Anna alive? It doesn't fit. Keeping Anna alive doesn't serve a purpose for him without Emily there to self destruct. It just doesn't fit."

Rossi spoke. "He's right. It really doesn't make sense. Mulgrew gets off on watching his victims suffer. He needs Emily to suffer. Killing her ends it too quickly."

"So…what? Why did he bother faking the kill?" Reid asked.

"He took Anna first." JJ said suddenly. "He was going to take Anna, and kill her. But he didn't."

"He took Emily instead." Reid said slowly. "Guys, I think he really was ready to kill Anna. But when Emily spoke up, he changed his plan. He was going to kill Anna so Emily would suffer. But then he realized Emily would suffer _more _if he didn't kill Anna yet. Now, he can make Emily watch from a place where she and Anna can't team up against him." Reid was speaking very quickly, but the team was hanging on every word.

"So, if he didn't kill Emily, what is he going to do with her?" JJ asked.

There were a few minutes of silence while everyone pondered that question. Their thoughts were interrupted by the shrill sounding of the doorbell.

It was like the doorbell had ignited something inside of them. Everyone in the conference room took off running, drawing weapons as they ran down the stairs, Hotch in the lead. He reached the door before everyone else and wrenched it open. His heart fell. There was no one there. His attention was called to the loud squealing sound of tires against pavement. He looked to his left; a dark sedan was speeding away. He strained to try and catch the license plate, but his attention was again called to something else. A crumpled figure was on the grass behind where the sedan had been idling. Hotch took off running again, his team on his heels. He holstered his weapon and bent over the figure. It was Emily.

She was unconscious, but she was breathing. Her face was incredibly swollen and there was a fine trickle of blood leaking out of her mouth. Her arms were cut up and Hotch knew that her clothes were hiding a myriad of bruises. He was vaguely aware of JJ calling the paramedics from somewhere behind him. All he really wanted to do was scoop Emily up in his arms and run her to the hospital himself. He resisted, knowing that moving her would only exacerbate the internal injuries she undoubtedly had. He couldn't resist brushing her hair off of her face, however. As gently as he could, he brushed it back, his hand cradling her cheek loosely for only a moment. Right now, he didn't care who saw.

Morgan was on the phone too, adding to the APB they already had out. A dark colored sedan wasn't much, but it was something. He ended his call just as the ambulance pulled up to where they were standing. The medics rushed out and shoved Hotch aside to get to Emily. As they loaded her into the ambulance, Hotch said something to Dave then climbed in after her. Morgan knew he would. He'd figured out a long time ago that Hotch and Emily were in love with each other. It had been almost the same as JJ and Will. Everyone knew, but no one would admit it. It was worse with Hotch and Emily though, because both of them were able to remain so stoic. Maybe this would change things.

Rossi stared after the ambulance as it left, sirens screaming. Then he spoke. "Come on. We have work to do."


	14. Chapter 14

Here's the next chapter, let me know what you think!

* * *

As soon as the ambulance had reached the hospital, a team of doctors had whisked Emily's stretcher away. Hotch had been told to stay in the waiting room and he did so, though he couldn't stop pacing. He checked in with the rest of the team twice, there'd been no new developments; the video was still up and running, but the Unsub hadn't returned to the room. Garcia was having no luck tracing anything. They had nothing to go on, at least until Emily woke up.

Finally, after what seemed like ten hours but was really only one a doctor walked up to Hotch.

"Are you here for Emily Prentiss?"

"Yes. How is she?"

The doctor smiled gently.

"She's going to be fine. She has a severe concussion and a few cracked ribs. Those are the most severe of the injuries. The rest are minor scrapes and bruises. She's going to need to rest for awhile, but she'll be good as new after that."

"Thank you. Can I see her?" Hotch felt as though a huge weight had been lifted off his shoulders.

The doctor nodded. "Room 706."

Hotch grasped his hand and thanked him again before maneuvering the maze of corridors in the hospital until he found Emily's room. He knocked softly on the door before entering.

She was lying down, her eyes closed. They fluttered open when she heard the knock and she struggled to focus them on Hotch. He sat next to her and slipped his hand inside hers.

"How are you?"

"I'm fine. Did you find Anna?"

Hotch looked at her. "Not yet."

Emily's eyes closed again and Hotch knew she was trying to compose herself. "The Unsub is Jonathan Mulgrew, Benjamin Cyrus' brother-" Hotch cut her off there.

"We know."

"You know? How?"

"There's a video, Emily."

"Video? Of what?"

"Mulgrew has a camera set up in that room. He sent a link to your email and Garcia pulled it up. We know everything you know."

"That's his plan? He makes the siblings watch…I was the target."

Hotch nodded.

Comprehension dawned on her then.

"You can still see Anna."

"Yes."

Emily tried to sit up. "You have to let me see her." She protested as Hotch put a restraining hand on her shoulder. "Hotch, come on. It's my sister."

He held his hand there, trying to keep her still. "The team is watching her. They'll let us know if anything happens."

"She's there with him. By herself." Emily said, trying to keep her voice even. "Do you even know where they are?"

"Garcia tried. She can't trace them."

"What do you mean she can't trace them? We're talking about Garcia, Hotch." Hotch didn't have a response to that. They sat in silence for a few moments.

"We'll find them, Emily." Hotch assured her.

"Yeah, and meanwhile, my sister is alone with Mulgrew."

"That's not your fault." Hotch regarded her.

"I should have known he wasn't going to kill me. It didn't fit the profile."

"You did what you thought was best with the information you had. In all honesty, had he taken Anna, he probably would have killed her. This is what he wants. He wants you to suffer more. Originally, he was going to kill Anna and watch you suffer. Now, he gets to torture her and make you watch. He gets to prolong your suffering."

"Great. So, I get to watch while my sister gets tortured by someone whose only goal is to hurt me. And what makes this even better is that I told her to provoke him."

"Don't do this to yourself. This is what he wants. It's like it was with Foyet. Don't let Mulgrew win Emily. This gives us more time to find her."

Emily closed her eyes again to regain her composure.

Hotch spoke again. "I need you to tell me about the building you were in. What did it smell like?"

He was lapsing into the cognitive interview, Emily knew. And she let him.

"It smelled musty, like an old warehouse. The room we were in had no windows, and only one door. The floor was concrete, and it felt like the walls were too."

"What happened after he took you out of the room?"

"He hit me, and I fell. That floor was concrete too. We were in hallway. He fired once, over my head. I heard Anna yelling, but then things went dark. I think he kicked me again, I must have blacked out. I'm sorry."

"You did fine. I'll get Garcia to refine the search. I'll be right back."

"No, Hotch, go back. I'll be fine here."

"I'm not going to leave you here by yourself." He said sternly.

"I'm asking you. Please, go back, and find my sister."

He gave her his patented look, the look that pierced the compartmentalized façade she carefully kept in place. She maintained eye contact, determined to show him that she was okay. Reluctantly, he nodded.

"All right. I'll call you soon."

Emily nodded and tried to smile. With one last look, Hotch strode purposefully out of the room.

He caught a cab back to Anna's house and within the hour was checking in with the team. He'd called Garcia on the way and told her to narrow her search to industrial buildings. Still, when he returned, she shook her head at him.

"There's still nothing. Nothing under any combination of victims names, Mulgrew's names, anything. He must be using a completely different name."

"He's too smart to use his own name." Rossi said. "How's Emily?" he asked, looking at Hotch.

"She's going to be fine. She supposed to rest."

"I don't think that's going to happen." Reid said slowly, looking at the door.

"Oh shut up Reid." Came a voice from the doorway.

Everyone else whirled around and saw Emily standing there, surprisingly steady, her eyes on the television screen where Anna now appeared to be sleeping, propped up against a wall. JJ immediately got up and guided Emily to a chair.

Hotch glared at her. "You're supposed to be resting. How did you get here?"

"I checked myself out and took a cab. I couldn't stay there." Her eyes still hadn't left the screen. "Has he been back?"

Morgan answered. "No, he hasn't been back since he left you here, and that was about two hours ago."

Emily nodded and turned her focus to Garcia. "And you still haven't found anything?"

She shook her head. "I'm sorry princess; I don't know what name he would have used."

Emily took Garcia's hand. "That's okay. We'll get him." Her voice was pointedly determined.

"You bet we will cupcake."

And with those words, the door onscreen opened and Mulgrew walked in. Immediately, Garcia and Reid started figuring out driving times and mileage to try and make a search radius. Emily, Hotch and the others, however, focused their entire attention on the screen.

Anna didn't acknowledge his entrance; she just kept her head back and her eyes closed. This didn't seem to bother Mulgrew. He gazed down at her with a small smile on his face.

"Your sister is dead, Anna." No response. "I shot her. You won't ever get to see her again." Still no response. "And now, it's just you and me. For as long as I want." And still, Anna didn't even acknowledge him. And apparently, Mulgrew was growing tired of this. "Stand up." When Anna didn't move, he said it again. "I said stand up." She didn't. He stormed over to her and yanked her off the floor. Finally, Anna opened her eyes. They were empty though, as though there was nothing going on inside her head.

Hotch had taken a seat next to Emily, and he felt her tense beside him. All eyes in the room were focused on the television screen, Reid and Garcia having abandoned their radius calculations; with a two hour time period, it was really too big to help. JJ was standing next to Rossi; both of them looked pensive. Morgan just looked pissed.

Mulgrew got right in Anna's face. "I killed your sister." He hissed.

"Oh, shut up." Anna said, exasperated. Her eyes weren't empty now, they were full of fire.

"What did you just say to me?" Mulgrew asked. He hadn't released his grip on Anna's arm, and his other hand was curled into a fist; his knuckles white.

"I told you to shut up. You're so goddamn full of yourself. You didn't kill my sister. You know it and I know it. So just be quiet already."

The atmosphere in the conference room changed considerably. Everyone had the same question running through their head: how did she know?

Mulgrew finally let go of Anna's arm, only to bring his fist back up to connect with her cheekbone. She reeled, and he hit her again, sending her crashing into the wall opposite.

Hotch heard Emily's sharp intake of breath and, against his own rules of professionalism, grabbed her hand. He felt her fingers close around it.

"I killed her!" Mulgrew yelled.

"No you didn't!" Anna yelled back. "You had no reason to kill her yet. She's the one you're after. You were going to kill me to get to her. But you have no reason to kill her and keep me. I mean, I know you're stupid, but I didn't you were stupid enough to think I was stupid."

Mulgrew regarded her, an intense look of fury etched in every line of his face. "Fine. She's alive. She's alive and well."

Anna let out a breath she didn't realize she'd been holding. Emily was alive. She was okay. Her relief must have been showing on her face, for Mulgrew spoke again.

"You were bluffing. You stupid bitch, you were bluffing." Anna flashed him a cheeky grin before Mulgrew laid into her again. His first punch went to her gut, knocking the wind out of her. She doubled over and he grabbed a fistful of her hair to pull her back up. Then he punched her again.

This went on for almost five minutes, and Hotch didn't think Emily was going to make it through. Her eyes never left the screen; he didn't even think she blinked. Most of the inhabitants of the room shared the same looks.

Finally Mulgrew stopped. Anna was on the ground breathing heavily. Her face was bleeding and swollen, but she was still conscious. When Mulgrew spoke again, his voice was soft.

"Doesn't that make you mad?"

Anna struggled to keep her voice steady and free of pain. "Does what make me mad?"

"That you sister left you here."

"She didn't leave me here, you took her."

"I was going to take you. You could have gotten out of here, but then your sister spoke up. She told me to take her instead. I was just complying with her wishes. And now she's safe, and you're here."

"If you had taken me, what would have happened?"

"If I had taken you, you wouldn't be here."

"Would I be dead? Would you have killed me?"

"I'm going to kill you. Don't bother questioning that."

"Would you have killed me then? That was your plan, wasn't it? Kill me and make Emily suffer?"

Mulgrew gave a smile. "I would have killed you then."

"So, what you're saying is, by going with you, Emily saved my life." Anna knew she had him. Rossi couldn't have manipulated Mulgrew any better himself.

Mulgrew knew she had him. And he was pissed. "When I'm finished with you, you're going to wish I'd killed you then." With those words, he easily picked her up off the floor. Anna managed to get her weight even on both feet. She did, and Mulgrew let go of her. He pressed his mouth to her ear. "You have no idea what I could do to you." He whispered.

As he spoke, he walked towards Anna, backing her up until she was against a wall. He pressed his body against hers and ran his hand down her swollen cheek. She didn't flinch. She laughed.

"Please, you and I both know that you wouldn't be able to get it up even if I was Angelina Jolie in lingerie."

Mulgrew breathed in hard through his nose. "Is that so?" He didn't give her a chance to answer, instead pressing his mouth violently to hers, his hands sliding down her waist and coming to rest at the bottom of her shirt. He gripped it and pulled it apart, the material ripped up to just under her chest. Mulgrew pressed his hands to the bare skin on her hips.

Morgan lost it then. He hit the wall so hard he punched a hole clean through. Reid stood and walked over to him, trying to talk to him, to calm him down, but Morgan waved him away, focusing back on the screen. Emily was now squeezing Hotch's hand so hard it was painful, not that he was going to say anything. Garcia looked horrorstruck, and JJ had placed a calming hand on her shoulder. Rossi met Hotch's eye with a composed glance.

Their attention was drawn back to the screen by the sound of Anna laughing again. "You know, kissing like that, you've probably never made it far enough with a girl to try to get it up."

Mulgrew finally took his hand off of her, though he didn't step back. "You know, I'm getting really, really tired of your smart mouth."

"And I'm getting really tired of looking at you." Anna fired back.

"Well, maybe we can fix that." Mulgrew leaned in once again and whispered something in Anna's ear that the others couldn't hear.

They did, however, see the change in the look on Anna's face. Her eyes filled with pain and her mouth opened slightly. A small groan escaped her lips. When Mulgrew stepped away, he looked immensely satisfied.

"Oh my God." Emily said, standing quickly. For onscreen, Mulgrew had stepped back and the team could see all of Anna. The front of her shirt was rapidly being stained crimson. And in Mulgrew's left hand was a knife no one knew he had. He turned and left the room without so much as a backward glance. Anna fell to her knees, and then to her side. She looked down at her wound. It hurt like a bitch, but it wasn't deep. He'd pierced her on her right side, below her ribs and above her pelvis. She could still breathe okay. She didn't think he'd nicked any of her organs. She wished she could use her hands to put pressure on it, but they were still cuffed tightly behind her back. So, she had to content herself with lying flat on her back, concentrating on taking slow, deep breaths. One thing she couldn't help, however, was the tears leaking out of the corners of her eyes. As much as she tried to keep them in, she couldn't; the pain was too bad. So, she closed her eyes and let them fall.

Emily was still standing by her chair. Her face was composed, but everyone in the room knew that didn't mean anything. Reid decided to speak up.

"Medically speaking, the stab wound probably isn't as bad as it looks. It's not bleeding enough to have hit an artery, so the blood flow should stop fairly quickly. There's no blood coming out of her mouth, so the knife didn't hit a lung." He met Emily's eyes. "She's in no immediate danger." He concluded.

Emily knew that Reid knew what he was talking about but it didn't make her feel better. Nor did JJ and Garcia's reassuring looks. Or Rossi's reassuring smile. Everyone was trying to reassure her, to make her feel better. What she needed was her sister by her side, laughing with her. And she didn't have that.

Morgan was standing by the window, his head leaning against the cool glass, when something caught his eye. There were several dim lights right down the road. But they were coming closer. He squinted, trying to make out the figures that were advancing down the street. He couldn't though, it was too dark. All he saw was a large shape, undulating its way down the road. And then, he figured it out.

"Rossi, come here." Rossi went to the window, with Reid and JJ right behind him. Emily didn't even notice; she was still looking at Anna's battered figure on the screen. She was still breathing slowly, her eyes closed. Now, Hotch and Garcia were at the window too, staring down at the street below. Hotch walked back to Emily and gently spoke. "We need to go downstairs. There's something you need to see."

"No. I'm not leaving." Emily said stubbornly.

"Emily, this is important too." Hotch insisted.

She looked at him and saw that it was true, and it was for that reason and that reason only that she allowed him to steer her down stairs. She didn't even realize that the rest of the team was behind her until they had reached the front door. Hotch opened it and Emily stepped out onto the front patio. What she saw there made her heart skip a few beats.

Crowded on the lawn and the street in front of Anna's house were over two hundred people, all with candles. Emily recognized a few kids from the neighborhood, including Roger, the boy who'd come to the door the first night they'd been here. All the members of his gang were there, along with an abundance of other people. There were kids, couples, and even whole families. Emily knew immediately that these were the people Anna had helped. She looked down the street only to see that even more people were crowding into the area.

Turning back to the crowd in front of her, Emily saw Roger step forward. He handed her a candle and lit it with his own. "We just wanted to show you how much she means to us." He gestured to the crowd behind him. "All of us. Your sister is an incredible person."

Emily nodded. "Thank you." She held her candle steady. The other members of her team had also been given candles. They formed a semi-circle behind her, with Hotch at her side. Emily held her candle, and thought of Anna. And it was this moment, more than anything else that assured her everything would turn out alright.


	15. Chapter 15

Thanks to all who have been reviewing, I appreciate it!

* * *

It had been about an hour since the candlelight ceremony. Most people had already left, though a few remained. They were mostly teenagers who didn't have anything else to do now that Anna's center was closed. So they stood in small clumps on the lawn and spoke amongst themselves, much better behaved than anyone would have expected in this part of town. But they were all learning not to judge too quickly, Morgan especially.

He knew his reputation was that of a player. He liked women, he liked having fun and that had never been a problem before. There was never a shortage of women in his life that were thrusting their numbers at him. Some of them never went past the dinner and drinks stage. Others did, but no one had ever made him want to grab the girl's hand and introduce her to his mom and sisters. Tamara Barnes had been close; he'd even thought she was the one for awhile. But he'd realized that she was only reaching out because of the death of her brother. As she healed, their relationship fizzled out.

But now, there was Anna. And Morgan thought she might just be the one he would introduce to his mother. She was different than anyone he'd ever met. She made him laugh, she made him think. In the few days he'd known her, he'd learned more about himself than he ever thought he could. And he'd learned some things about people too. That, just because you grow up in a rough neighborhood doesn't mean you're destined to be a gangbanger. And, just because someone's a banger doesn't mean they're inherently bad. These were hard things for him to acknowledge; growing up where he did, things always seemed black and white. You were a banger or you weren't. Now he wasn't so sure.

There were the silly things about her too. She and Penelope had become fast friends, which was important to him. Way back when, Penelope had warned him about Tamara, and it hadn't worked out. If his Baby Girl approved, that was a good sign.

He'd never felt this way before. Anna was special. And he was pretty damn sure he loved her.

He leaned back in the chair he was sitting in. He'd been lounging in the kitchen; he didn't think he could stand another minute in that conference room. He knew the others would let him know if something happened.

That's why, when he sensed someone in the doorway, his head snapped up. Emily was standing there, but he could tell by the look on her face that nothing had happened. She did look dead on her feet though.

She spoke before he could. "She's hanging in."

Morgan nodded. Emily came into the kitchen and sat down, albeit somewhat gingerly.

"How are you?" he asked, noticing this.

"I'll be better when we find Anna."

Morgan nodded again. "Yeah. Me too." He looked directly at Emily when he spoke again. "We will find her."

"Will we? Will we find her in time? Because right now, she's lying somewhere, slowly bleeding to death, with a crazed Unsub who wants me to watch her die. Oh, and by the way, in case you didn't know, Garcia can't trace them. So you tell me, Morgan, how are we going to find her?"

Morgan had never heard Emily sound so bitter, so cynical. "We'll find her because we are the best damn team in the FBI. Don't give up on that. Your sister is one of the strongest people I've met, after you." Emily was staring down at her hands. "Emily, listen to me. We are going to find her, and you guys are going to be raising hell for years to come."

Emily smiled. "And what about you guys? What does your future hold?"

Morgan paused before answering. "You never know." Then he smiled. "She's special."

"I know." She paused before adding, "Just remember that if you hurt her, I will kick your ass."

Morgan laughed. But deep down, he knew she was serious.

They were interrupted when JJ appeared. "He's back." She bounded back up the stairs, Morgan and Emily at her heels.

As they entered the conference room, they heard Mulgrew's voice.

"You look pitiful." His voice was taunting, he was trying to break her down.

Anna didn't even bother turning her head to look at him. "And you're ugly. But you don't see me bothering you about it." Her voice was laced with pain, and weaker than they'd ever heard it. But it was obvious that Anna wasn't down yet.

Mulgrew responded with a well placed kick to Anna's uninjured side. She bit her lip, but couldn't prevent the sound of pain that escaped her. Mulgrew surveyed her for a moment before speaking. "There is a way to end this, you know. All you have to do is call your sister." Anna closed her eyes and shook her head. "Just call Emily. This will all end if you do."

The atmosphere in the conference room tensed considerably. If Anna complied, she was as good as dead. She, of course, didn't know that.

"Why would I want to call Emily?"

"So she can come help you. If you call her, I'll tell her where we are."

Anna stared at him. "I'm not going to call Emily." She said finally, and a collective sigh of relief echoed throughout the room.

"Why not?" Mulgrew regarded her thoughtfully. "Don't you want her to save you? Or is it that you can't depend on her to save you?"

"I can depend on Emily for anything." Anna fired back.

"Really? Then why are you here, all alone, with me?"

"Because I just find your company so enthralling." She said sarcastically.

Mulgrew took a moment. "Fine. If you don't want to call her, let's say you and I have a chat. I'm going to ask you some questions. I want you to answer truthfully. I know when I'm being lied to."

"Yeah, because that worked out so well last time."

Mulgrew ignored that. "I want you to tell me about your sister." Anna didn't respond. "I said; tell me about your sister." Again, no response. "Did you hear me?"

"Yes, I heard you."

"Then why didn't you answer?"

"Because you haven't actually asked me a question." Anna said slowly, in the same condescending tone she'd used with him earlier.

Mulgrew breathed hard through his nose. "Fine. You want a question? Here's one. What annoys you most about your sister?"

Anna looked confused. "What kind of question is that?"

"One that I suggest you answer immediately."

The team knew what he was doing. In all of the other videos, Mulgrew had asked his victims intimate, personal questions about their relationship with their siblings. If they didn't tell him what he wanted to hear, he beat them. The goal was to make the other sibling feel even worse about themselves. Anna didn't know she was being recorded, so in Mulgrew's mind, Emily was about to listen to Anna badmouth her. This was done to further the destruction of the sibling's relationship.

Unfortunately for Mulgrew, Anna wasn't going to play along that easily.

"Emily doesn't annoy me."

"Really."

"Really. We've always gotten along great. There haven't been any problems between us."

"Ever?"

"Ever."

Mulgrew apparently didn't want to hear this. He kicked her again, but seemed reluctant to force her to stand. Even if he tried, it was unlikely that Anna could've stood on her own anyway.

"You're lying."

"Am I?"

"Yes. And I won't stand for it!" His voice escalated with those words and his next kick was to her head. Dazed, Anna tried to roll over and move away from his blows. It didn't work however, for they kept coming; now hitting her back over and over. Her stab wound had been clotting nicely, but as she rolled over, she felt the spread of warmth that meant it was bleeding again. The kicking stopped abruptly, and Anna was almost afraid to open her eyes. When she did, she realized that Mulgrew was no longer in the room, though the door was left open. She could see a pile of old crates right outside the door. She didn't have time to try and make it through however, before he returned, wielding a baseball bat. She crawled back as far as she could, her bad leg failing her when she needed it most. Eventually, she found herself flat on her back again, staring up at Mulgrew.

"I'm going to ask you again. What annoys you most about your sister?"

Mulgrew looked down at her, his eyes full of contempt. She would talk now, now that she'd seen the bat. She knew what he could do. He was immensely satisfied when she began to speak.

"There was this one thing. From when we were kids." Her voice was controlled; she was choosing her words carefully. "Every day when we got home from school, we would eat a snack together. Usually it was fruit snacks. Emily would always steal the grape ones."

Mulgrew glared. "That's all you can come up with?" He raised the bat menacingly. "Are you sure?"

"I'm completely sure. She stole my grape fruit snacks. Every day."

Mulgrew brought the bat swinging down and Anna braced herself for the pain. It didn't come though; instead she heard the bat bounce off the concrete floor. Then came his voice right in her ear.

"Next time, I won't miss." He stood, still gripping the bat and walked away from Anna. "Next question. Tell me a family secret. Something no one knows about your sister."

"That's not a question." This declaration was followed by a cry when she felt the bat connect with her ankle.

"I don't give a damn if it's a question. Tell me the goddamn secret!" He swung wildly with the bat, and Anna managed to roll over before the bat hit her."

"There aren't any." She spat.

"Excuse me?"

"I said, there aren't any secrets."

"Really."

"Are we really going to go through this again? Yes really. No secrets." Hotch stole a glance at Emily, who was looking down. He knew what she was thinking of, and he figured everyone in the room did too.

"Every family has secrets." Mulgrew insisted.

"Really? What're yours? Was it a secret that your father beat you? Was it a secret that your brother molested little girls? Tell me, what are your secrets?"

"We're not here to talk about me!" Mulgrew yelled.

"Well, I don't feel like talking about me, so I guess you're just out of luck!"

Mulgrew didn't know what to do. He'd never had anyone act like this before. He couldn't kill her yet. But he felt his temper rising. He had to get out of there, at least for a few minutes. And that is what made him turn and walk out the door without so much as another word to his captive.

And that left Anna alone again, lying on the floor, hoping and praying with all her heart that Emily understood her message.

"She did it again." Rossi marveled.

"Did what?" Morgan asked.

"Made him so mad he had to leave. She reads him well; she knows he doesn't want to kill her. So she pushes him until he thinks he can't stay there without fatally hurting her. So he leaves, buying her time."

"It's not right." Emily said quietly, looking thoughtful.

"What's not?" Hotch asked.

"Anna. It's not right."

"We know it's not right, Emily. It's sick. Mulgrew is sick." JJ said.

"No, not him." Emily said, this time with more emphasis. "The fruit snacks. It's not right."

"Emily, you know Anna was just talking, I'm sure she's not really annoyed that you took her snack." Hotch said.

"No. Just shut up and let me talk. When Anna and I came home from school, we did always eat fruit snacks. But I stole the raspberry ones, not the grape ones. Raspberry was my favorite."

"So she doesn't remember what kind of fruit snacks you liked. Don't take it personally cupcake." Garcia told her.

"No, the way she said it. It's more than that. She was trying to talk to us."

"Emily, she doesn't know about the video feed. She can't be talking to us. She's lost a lot of blood, at this point; she'd be disoriented and confused." Reid said.

"No, no, no. Hang on. When Mulgrew dragged me into the hallway, there was a pile of crates or something out there. He knocked me out before I could get too good of a look, I didn't even think it was a big deal."

Garcia was all over it. She pulled up a separate window with the video feed and rewound back to the part when Mulgrew had briefly exited the room. The camera angle wasn't good, but Garcia managed to pull up a corner of the hall. They could all see the crates. She enhanced the image and words became blurrily visible. She kept typing and clicking and the image sharpened bit by bit. Finally, she was able to get the bottom word: Vineyard.

"Grapes. Vineyard. Garcia, can you get the first word?" Emily spoke quickly.

"I am all over it." Before their eyes, the image continued to morph little by little. And then, finally: Thompson.

"Thompson Vineyard. Garcia, find out if they have any warehouses in the area." Hotch instructed.

Her fingers flew across the keyboard. "Okay, there are three in the area, but only one of them is not in use. 1650 Oakland."

"We got him." Morgan and Emily said together, following Hotch, Rossi, JJ, and Reid out of the conference room at a run.

Garcia yelled her standard "Be safe." after them and turned to the screen. "Hang in there Anna, they're coming for you."


	16. Chapter 16

Thanks for bearing with me; I've got final exams this week and next, so I haven't had much time to work on this. But anyway, let me know what you think!

* * *

Anna was still lying where she had last fallen, concentrating on her breathing. She thought about the past hour, the fruit snacks story. She hoped that somehow Emily got that message. Anna knew it was a long shot, but she had to try. She felt her heart rate speed up at the thought of getting Emily back here. Anna didn't know what the right course of action was. Ideally, Emily and Mulgrew wouldn't ever meet again. But Anna knew chances of that were slim. At least this way, Emily was prepared. And armed. Any sane person should be afraid of a pissed off Emily with a Glock. Hell, any sane person should be afraid of a pissed off Emily without a Glock.

She made the mistake of trying to take a deep breath to calm herself down and felt a searing pain in her abdomen, compliments of a few broken ribs and the stab wound that was still oozing blood. Her arms were still pinned beneath her, but they were starting to go numb under the weight of her body. In fact, she seemed to be going numb all over. That couldn't be good.

Suddenly, she was drawn out of her reverie by the sound of yelling followed by bursts of gunfire. Almost instantly, Mulgrew flung open the door to the room gun in hand.

* * *

Emily was tense in the passenger seat of the SUV; Hotch was driving and JJ was in the back seat. The lights from the SUV carrying Rossi, Morgan, and Reid flashed and reflected off the side mirror. The cell phone on the dash was connected to that in the rear SUV, but no one was speaking. Emily was doing something she hadn't done in a long time: praying.

"Please, God, don't take my sister from me now. I need her more than I need anyone else in this world. And please, please don't hold my past mistakes against me. Or her. She's one of the best people I know, one of the kindest, one of the strongest."

Emily hadn't realized she'd said that last part out loud. Hotch glanced at her, not willing to take his eyes completely off the road since he was currently travelling upwards of eighty miles an hour.

"What did you say?"

Emily shook her head clear. "Nothing. Just thinking out loud I guess."

"Prentiss, I don't know if you should go in there." Hotch decided a direct statement was his best offense. Although, some small part of him knew it was useless, he anticipated her response before she had even formulated it herself.

"Hotch, you can't be serious. It's my sister."

"And there's an Unsub who's only goal is to kill you. I can't let you go in there. Plus, you're injured."

"Hotch, I can't not go in there. And I'm perfectly fine."

"Emily, it would be risking the lives of everyone else. Seeing you might make Mulgrew kill her faster. And I think the fact that you have several broken ribs counts as an injury."

Before Emily could speak again, Rossi spoke up from the rear SUV.

"Maybe not."

"What are you thinking Dave?" Hotch asked.

"Maybe seeing Emily will make him pause long enough for us to get to him. If we get him talking, there's more time for us to find another way in."

"And maybe not." Morgan said. "The profile says that if we corner Mulgrew, he's going to go down shooting and take as many people as he can with him. That includes Anna and any of the rest of us."

Emily opened her mouth to speak again, but this time it was Reid who spoke up.

"Not necessarily. Mulgrew's mission isn't complete until both Anna and Emily are dead. He's not going to want to die until he sees that mission carried out. I think we have to let Emily go in there. If she's not there, he's going to kill Anna right away to draw her in. If Emily's there, he'll taunt her first. We'll still get the time we need to figure something out."

Finally, Emily got a word in. "Hotch, this isn't negotiable. I'm going in. I can't just sit out here."

Hotch glanced at her again. "Fine. But you stay behind someone at all times."

"No problem." Emily stated. "Like Reid said, he needs me to watch. He won't kill me first."

"He's not going to kill anyone else." Morgan said.

A few minutes of silence passed until the warehouse finally appeared. No one spoke, but the sound of weapons checked echoed throughout both vehicles. They screeched to a halt and the agents congregated behind one of the cars.

"Garcia? We need the layout for this building." Hotch instructed.

"I'm all over that. The only entrance is the front; it leads to a huge open room. There's a hallway off to the right and there's a smaller room at the end of it."

"Okay Garcia. Keep on the video, we need to know what goes on in that room while we don't have eyes."

"Yeah, I gotcha. Nothing right now. Anna is lying more or less in the middle of the room. The door is in the middle too."

"Morgan, this is your area of expertise. What do you think?" Hotch asked.

Morgan took a breath. "We go in through the front, obviously. We need to clear the first room, then go to the hallway. We stay together unless something new develops. Hotch and I will go in front, Reid and Emily next, JJ and Rossi behind them. Prentiss, you stay behind Hotch, no matter what. Once that room is clear, we go to the hallway, same formation. When we get to that door, we don't know what we're going to have. That we'll have to play by ear." He looked at Emily directly. "Behind Hotch, no matter what."

"Yeah, I got that." Emily said dryly. Her heart was racing as the team took their formation outside the front door of the warehouse. Morgan and Hotch met eyes and, on Hotch's nod, Morgan kicked in the door so hard he took it off its hinges.

Rossi clocked the two guys in the back of the room and the same time JJ did. Mulgrew was nowhere in sight.

"FBI, stand up and put your hands behind your head." He yelled. Instead, they went for their own guns which were lying on the floor beside them. Rossi and JJ were faster, however, and the men were down before they could even fire a shot.

Garcia's frantic voice came over the headset. "Guys, he's in the room. You have to get in there, now."

Emily almost broke formation. What harm would it do? She was wearing a vest and she was a good shot. Surely she could drop Mulgrew before he could shoot anyone else. And yet, something kept her behind Hotch where she'd been told to stay. He and Morgan were advancing toward the hallway at a slower pace than she would have preferred, but she knew she had to trust them. So she followed.

The door at the end of the hall was shut and the team crowded around it. Checking to ensure that everyone was in position, Morgan tested the doorknob. It was unlocked.

"Garcia, what does it look like in there?"

"Okay, he's got Anna in the middle of the room, he's behind her. They're directly in front of the door."

"On three." Morgan said quietly. He raised three fingers and dropped one at a time. Then, slowly, he turned the knob again and the door swung open.

True to Garcia's words, Anna was in the center of the room. She was no longer lying down; Mulgrew had slung the cuffs over a bar that ran the length of the room. Anna appeared to be almost hanging from that bar and if she had been any shorter, she would have been. As it was, she was standing on the balls of her feet, her hands gripping the bar. Her head was lolling on her neck and she appeared to be unconscious. Mulgrew was behind her, though since Anna was so small he wasn't completely concealed. It was enough however, to prevent anyone from having a good shot. That and the gun pressed against her head, or course.

"Jonathan Mulgrew, drop the weapon." Hotch instructed.

"I don't think so." Mulgrew answered, pressing the gun even harder into her head. To this, Anna responded by rolling her head up and surveying the team. Her eyes looked a little glassy, and she was very pale. Remarkably, she smiled.

"Took you long enough." She winced as Mulgrew grabbed a fistful of her hair and yanked it backwards.

Hotch felt Emily shift behind him. He adjusted himself in front of her again as a reminder to stay put.

"Jonathan, you're outnumbered. There's no way you're getting out of here. Just put the gun down and we can talk about this."

"There's nothing to talk about. I have to do this. They deserve this." Jonathan answered vehemently.

"No, you don't have to do this. Benjamin is responsible for his own death, Emily and Anna had nothing to do with it." Hotch reasoned.

"You know what? This doesn't have anything to do with you, Agent. So why don't you leave. All of you should leave. Except for Emily. She stays. And then, this can all be over." Mulgrew's voice was an octave higher than it had been earlier. He was getting desperate.

Anna tensed as Mulgrew's grip on her tightened. Her side felt like it was being ripped in half, her body being stretched to its limit. She needed to do something. She shifted a little, and it came to her. She looked directly at Emily.

When Emily locked eyes with Anna, the communication was so strong it was as if actual words had been expressed. Emily had been willing to let Hotch do the talking, but it wasn't going anywhere. The situation was going to escalate quickly, and that was undesirable at best. Anna's eyes flicked upward and Emily blinked. Those two actions made up an entire nonverbal conversation.

Emily quickly tapped Hotch twice on the back. Reid, following her lead did the same to Morgan. That was their signal. Rossi and JJ, having seen this, tightened their grips and took aim. Everyone was set.

Through this, Emily never broke eye contact with her sister. They needed to stay connected for this to work. Anna blinked and it happened.

Pushing off the balls of her feet and gripping the bar with both hands, Anna pulled her body into a tucked position and raised herself off the ground. She brought her body up and wrapped her ankles around the bar on the ceiling. This move left Mulgrew wide open and a barrage of bullets hit him immediately. Both Emily and Morgan emptied their clips, the rest came close. Mulgrew collapsed in a crumpled heap, his gun flying away from him.

The team rushed the room as Anna lowered herself back to the ground. The effort she'd used drained her, her abdomen hurt more than ever, and she was bleeding again. Reid and Hotch were checking Mulgrew, making sure he was truly dead. He was. Reid found the key to the handcuffs in Mulgrew's pocket and tossed it to Emily who immediately released her sister. Anna however, couldn't support her own weight and collapsed against Emily, hugging her fiercely. Emily hugged her back just as much and spoke to her softly. The team stood a respectful distance away, not wanting to interrupt this moment. Rossi was telling Garcia to send ambulances and the coroner for the body.

"Are you okay?" Emily asked.

"Oh yes, I'm fantastic." Anna tried again to make her legs stay strong under her, but failed. Her voice, weak as it was, still maintained the teasing quality everyone had come to recognize. "Although, I may require medical services. There seems to be a hole in my side that wasn't there before." She coughed. "And I think I can't walk."

"Ambulances are on the way. Hang in there." Emily assured her.

"Yes, hanging. I've already done that tonight. And I seem to be doing it again." She coughed again, and it was true, she was practically hanging off of Emily, who, under the pretense of a hug, was actually holding Anna up.

They heard sirens outside, and Morgan approached the pair. "The paramedics are here." He stated. He couldn't see Anna's face, for she was facing away from him. Emily nodded at him though, and shifted Anna toward him. He placed one arm around her shoulders and the other beneath her knees, scooping her up easily. Anna looked up at him.

"I'm getting your shirt dirty." And then, her head falling against his shoulder, she passed out.

Morgan spoke to Emily. "I'm going to take her outside. Are you going to ride with her?"

Emily nodded. "I just need a minute."

Morgan nodded back, and carried Anna out of the room toward the waiting ambulance.

Most of the team followed, JJ was speaking to Garcia, assuring her that Anna would shortly be on her way to the hospital and that yes, everyone else was okay. Finally, only Emily and Hotch were left in that room.

"Prentiss, are you alright?" Hotch asked.

"Yes, I'm fine." She said. And then she collapsed.


	17. Chapter 17

Here's the last chapter, this has been a blast! Thanks to everyone who has read and especially those who have reviewed. Don't forget to give me some final thoughts!

* * *

When Anna woke up, it took her a few moments to figure out where she was. Her first clue was that her hands were no longer cuffed behind her back. They were lying at her sides, an IV needle poking out of one of them. And the surface she was lying on was soft. If that weren't enough, everything was white; she was in a hospital.

The next thing to register was the discomfort in her side. She moved her hand and felt the bandage covering the stab wound. Though it didn't hurt nearly as bad as it had earlier, it certainly wasn't comfortable. She figured she was on a pretty good amount of morphine. Though she knew it was helping the pain, she didn't like the groggy feeling it gave her. Maybe that was why it had taken her a few minutes to realize that there was someone lying in the bed next to her. She recognized the pale face immediately.

"Emily?"

Emily was startled; she hadn't realized Anna had awoken. She herself had only been awake for an hour or so, but a lot of the disorientation had dissipated already. She remembered being back in that room and she remembered feeling extremely dizzy. She had vague recollections of Hotch asking if she was okay, and she figured she must have passed out.

"Anna, are you okay?"

"I feel woozy. But I'm good. How are you?"

"I'm fine. I think I passed out." There was an awkward pause, Emily didn't like the stiff way the conversation was going. "Listen, Anna, I-"

Anna cut her off. "Emily, don't even say it."

"Say what?"

"Sorry. You're going to say you're sorry. I don't want to hear it."

"Look, you have every right to be angry-"

"Angry?" Anna laughed then sobered as she felt the stitches in her abdomen pull. "Em, I'm not angry, why should I be?"

"Because I left you along with him, he could have killed you." Emily was grappling with an immense amount of guilt. It was like she had gone back in time and Anna had just been hit with her dad's car.

Anna let out a breath. "Emily. Is it safe to assume you were watching the video feed?"

"Yes, how did you-"

"I'll explain later. Emily, I meant what I said. If you hadn't gone with him, he would have killed me then. You saved my life by going with him. Don't ever doubt that."

Emily felt Anna staring at her and it took her a few seconds to return the stare. When she did, Anna smiled. Finally, Emily returned that too. And in those few seconds, they communicated more than any verbal conversation could ever allow.

Eventually, Emily spoke again. "You know, I would have given anything to see the look on his face when you called him out on being impotent."

Anna cracked up. "You have no idea; he looked confused, then angry, then ashamed, then angry again. I thought his head was going to explode. His face was practically purple."

She sighed. "The Prentiss sisters do it again."

Emily laughed too. "Mission accomplished sister." Another look sent them both into laughter again, and Emily knew things would be okay. They would get through this, just like they'd gotten through everything else in their lives. Together.

* * *

In the waiting room, Hotch was pacing, Morgan was standing, Rossi was sitting, Reid was thinking, and JJ was talking on the phone, presumably to a reporter. No one was speaking, but everyone looked up when Garcia came streaking into the waiting room.

"Where are they? How are they? What did the doctor say? Why aren't you with them?"

"Slow down Baby Girl, slow down." Morgan finally broke out of his reverie and hugged her. She hugged him back fiercely, blinking back the tears she didn't want to let fall. "Hunky, any time you want to answer my questions would be a good time for me." She finally said.

"I'm guessing they're in a room, the doctor hasn't been to talk to us, and we're not with them because we would just be in the way right now."

Garcia nodded. "Okey-dokey then. Where's the coffee?"

A voice spoke up from behind them. "That shouldn't be necessary. Are you here for Emily and Anna Prentiss?"

Hotch answered. "Yes."

The doctor smiled, always a good sign. "They're both going to be fine. Emily Prentiss collapsed from a combination of dehydration and exhaustion. She shouldn't have checked herself out earlier. We've re-bandaged her fractured ribs, and she's going to be fine as long as she takes it easy for a few days. Anna Prentiss' injuries are slightly more serious; the stab wound being the obvious priority. The knife would was not terribly deep and did not hit any major organs. She did lose a lot of blood, and we've given her a few transfusions to replenish her system. Her only other major injury is a broken ankle, the rest are bruises and cuts; we've cleaned those up. They're both going to be fine." He concluded.

Everyone let out a deep breath of relief. "Can we see them?" JJ asked.

"Of course. Keep in mind that they're both on some pain medication; they're going to be groggy. Room 149. If you have any questions, please feel free to page me." With one last smile, he left.

Morgan wanted to sprint down there, but he looked to Hotch for confirmation first. Hotch nodded once, and both of them took off. Reid made to follow them, but Rossi held him back. "Let's give them a few minutes." He instructed. Reid looked momentarily confused, which amused Garcia to no end.

"You know Genius, for being so smart; you can be so very dumb." She pinched his cheek playfully.

Reid opened his mouth but closed it again before saying anything. He doubted he would ever understand the concept of romance.

* * *

Hotch and Morgan stopped outside the door to the hospital room. Emily and Anna were laughing. Hotch marveled at Emily's ability to rebound from even the most terrible of things. Anna's accident, Cyrus, this, she'd made it through it all. When he caught himself thinking about her, he immediately reigned his thoughts in. He admired her resilience, nothing more. Or at least, that's what he told himself. He raised his hand and knocked twice on the door. Emily and Anna smiled when they saw Hotch and Morgan in the doorway.

Morgan wasn't sure how to act; for once, being in the company of a gorgeous woman had him mystified. He smiled at Emily and told her he was glad she was alright. They'd spoken earlier; he didn't have much else to say that she needed to hear. What he wanted to do most was talk to Anna, which was why, without another thought; he abandoned Hotch and went to her bedside, pulling up a chair. Settling himself in, he gently wrapped his hand around the one of hers without the IV.

"Hi." She grinned.

"Hey." Morgan's smile faltered and Anna noticed.

"So…this is awkward." She stated bluntly.

Morgan cracked up; that's what she'd been aiming for.

"Only you could escape a psychopathic killer and be joking a few hours later." He said, and then paused. "Of course, you wouldn't have ever been in the hands of said killer if I hadn't let him get to you."

"Let him get to me? I'm sure that's not how it happened."

"What's the last thing you remember?"

"Emily and I were in the kitchen. I was facing her, away from the doorway. All of the sudden her face changed and she shoved me behind her. There were too many guys though, and the last thing I remember is him coming at me. What happened after that?"

"Garcia figured out about the tapes, by the way, how did you-"

"I'll explain later." She smiled.

"Anyway, Garcia figured out about the tapes, and I went downstairs to tell you guys. You were already unconscious by the time I walked in. Emily got hit right as I came in the door, and I tried to hold them off, but one of them hit me too. Then I woke up upstairs with Garcia with a god awful headache with Rossi standing over me. Not exactly the most pleasant of wakeups by the way."

Now it was Anna's turn to laugh. "I can relate."

Morgan's smile immediately faded. "Look, I am so sorry for what happened to you."

"I have heard that word more than I can stand. I hate the word sorry, especially when someone is apologizing for something that isn't their fault." Morgan looked as though he was about to interrupt, but Anna didn't stop talking. "Is it weird that I'm actually glad this happened? I mean, I'm not glad that all those people died, and I'm certainly not glad that Emily and I got dragged into it, but, something good did come of it."

"Yeah? What's that?"

"I met you."

* * *

Unlike Morgan, Hotch did not make physical contact with Emily but rather sat down somewhat stiffly next to her bed. "How are you?"

"I'm fine, Hotch."

"You shouldn't have left the hospital earlier." He chastised.

"I couldn't just stay here, Hotch. I had to do something." She didn't elaborate; she knew he understood.

"Well, you will need to rest before you come back to work. Doctor's orders."

Emily held up her hands defensively. "Fine, fine. No argument here." She looked hard at Hotch. Hotch stared right back, both of them trying desperately not to acknowledge the feelings flowing between them right now.

"Hotch-"

"Emily, I-" they began at the same time and stopped.

"Go ahead." They both said together, which made even Hotch crack a smile. They didn't get to say anything else, however, before they were interrupted by another knock at the door.

Rossi, Reid, JJ, and Garcia were crowded in the doorway, looking both tired but happy. JJ and Garcia were sharing knowing glances and trying to suppress smiles while Reid was standing awkwardly with his hands jammed in his pockets. Rossi's eyes moved from Anna and Morgan's entwined hands to Hotch's stiff posture next to Emily's bed. Suppressing a smile of his own, he spoke.

"How are you guys?"

"Fantastic." Anna and Emily answered in unison, as they had done hours earlier. This was apparently hysterical to both of them and the sound of their laughter filled the air until they were stopped by the discomfort in Emily's ribs and the shooting pain in Anna's abdomen.

"Honestly, we're fine." Emily said. "And I really want to-"

"Say thank you for everything you guys have done for us." Anna picked up. "You have no idea how much it means that you all came rushing down here to help me out. It's really great knowing that you all have Emily's back when you're out in the field."

"Trust me; it's just as great to know that she has you to get her through everything else in her life." Garcia said. The two shared a smile and Morgan felt an inkling that his Baby Girl had made a lifelong friend in the girl he was pretty sure could cure him of his bachelorhood.

Reid spoke for the first time since entering the room. "So, how did you know you were being recorded?" he asked Anna.

She smiled. "I didn't know for sure. I really was bluffing. But I figured Emily was right, that she was his target. So, if he took her, he would want her to know what was happening. I figured he would have to be broadcasting it somehow. The rest was luck."

From there, the conversation drifted onto other topics, it had the easy flow none of their other conversations had possessed. Anna learned about Will and Henry, and even saw pictures. The team learned more about Roger and the other families Anna had helped. Anna, in turn, heard anecdotes from the team's cases, both personal and professional. One she found most interesting was the one Morgan told, where Emily questioned Hotch in front of everyone about his meeting with Erin Strauss. She'd already expressed her judgment of the Unit Chief (unpleasant hag). Emily and Hotch both laughed, but is was forced, and everyone knew it. Anna stole a glance at Emily who was purposely avoiding her eye.

Hours passed in what seemed like minutes and as the team was preparing to leave, JJ asked the fateful question.

"So, what's next for you Anna?"

"Oh, I don't know. Guess I'll just have to wait and see what comes my way."

"Oh please, you know you're going to go back to your shelter and open it back up, ignoring doctor's orders and doing more than you should." Emily teased.

"Oh really? Well, we all know you're going to go back to Quantico and do much more than you should be." Anna fired back.

"Oh yeah?" Emily smiled.

"Yeah." Anna retorted.

"Well, there's only one way to find out." Emily said, with a note of finality.

Anna looked at her for a moment, a cheeky grin on her face. Then:

"Race you."

And with that, she turned her face toward Morgan's, grabbing him around the neck and pressing her lips to his. He, mildly surprised but overly pleased, kissed her back.

Emily looked at the pair with a smile on her face. She'd known this was going to happen from the first time Morgan and Anna met. And then, not knowing what possessed her to do it, she turned to Hotch. Before she could second guess herself, she found herself in the same position as Anna. She pulled Hotch's face close, and gently kissed him. She pulled back and surveyed his face, looking for any sign of anger or discomfort. She found none; on the contrary, he almost looked as though he was going to smile again. Indeed, he let her pull his face close again and did what he'd wanted to do for months: kiss her back.

The rest of the team looked on in amusement, only Reid showed signs of discomfort. The thing was, neither kiss really surprised anybody.


End file.
